Dr. Marilyn Crumpton, Interim Cincinnati Health Commissioner

Cathy B. Bailey, Director, Greater Cincinnati Water Works

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 20, 2017

 

Media Contacts

Marla Hurston Fuller at marla.fuller@cincinnati-oh.gov or 513-357-7291 (o) 513-725-6861 (c)
Stephanni Schweitzer at Stephanni.schweitzer@gcww.cincinnati-oh,gov or 513-817-9743

 

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is October 22-28, 2017

City Departments Raise Awareness of Importance of Getting Children Tested for Lead Poisoning

Cincinnati, OH (October 20, 2017) - To increase awareness of childhood lead poisoning prevention, the Cincinnati Health Department (CHD) and Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are participating in National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW) October 22-28, 2017.

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week aims to help individuals, organizations, and state and local governments to work together to reduce childhood exposure to lead. This year's NLPPW theme, "Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future," underscores the importance of testing your home, testing your child, learning about drinking water, and learning how to prevent lead poisoning’s serious health effects.

Lead is primarily found in homes built before 1978. The lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust and soil found in and around old, deteriorating buildings and homes can cause a multitude of problems in children under the age of 6 years of age because it mainly affects the brain and central nervous system.  Children can also be exposed to lead from additional sources including contaminated drinking water, take-home exposures from a workplace, and lead in soil. 

Today at least 4 million households have children living in them that are being exposed to high levels of lead according to the CDC. There are approximately half a million U.S. children ages 1-5 with blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), the reference level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated. Unfortunately, lead exposure often occurs with no obvious symptoms and therefore it frequently goes unrecognized. Only a blood test can confirm the presence of lead. Ohio law requires that every child be tested for lead at ages 1 and 2.

Preventing exposure to lead is crucial to a lifetime of good health for children.  At this time, no safe blood levels in children have been identified, and even low levels of lead in the blood can affect nearly every system in the body including a child’s IQ, their ability to pay attention, and their academic achievement.  Once a child is exposed to lead, it cannot be corrected. Despite the continued presence of lead in the environment, lead poisoning is entirely preventable.

Parents can reduce a child’s exposure to lead in many ways. Here are some simple things you can do to help protect your family:

1. Keep your home clean. The most common exposure to toxic lead is from contaminated dust. Contaminated dust looks exactly the same as regular household dust.
2. Wash your children’s hands and toys. Contaminated dust on children’s hands and toys makes its way into children’s mouths, a major source of lead poisoning.
3. Keep your home in good repair. Learn about, and use, lead-safe work practices in maintaining your home. Improper maintenance can result in creating contaminated dust.
4. Remove your shoes before entering the home, or put down floor mats at the entryways, to avoid tracking in contaminated dust from outside.
5. Get Your Child Tested. All Cincinnati children ages one and two should be tested for lead. If your children have not been tested, even if they seem healthy, ask your doctor to test them now.
6. Assume all paint in your older home IS lead-based paint, unless it is tested to show it is not. Before you buy an older home, consider asking for a lead inspection.
7. The City of Cincinnati has a $3.4 million grant from HUD to reduce and address lead paint hazards in eligible private residences. Please fill out the grant application http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/health/chd-programs/environmental-health/lead-poisoning-prevention-program/ or call 513-357-7420.
8. Learn about drinking water. There is no lead in the finished water leaving the GCWW treatment plant or in the distribution water mains. However, lead exposure can increase when lead service lines, leaded solder or older brass plumbing fixtures and faucets are present in some older homes.
9. Learn more about lead in drinking water, request a FREE lead test kit, or use the interactive Lead Map at Lead.myGCWW.org or 513-651-LEAD (5323).

About the Cincinnati Health Department

Since 1826, the Cincinnati Health Department has been committed to protecting and improving the health of the people of Cincinnati.  As a nationally recognized leader in public health, CHD advocates for responsive health and human services that promote healthy living environments and social well-being, as well as works to reduce health inequities such as poverty and unemployment.

CHD has a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) designation status and serves over 40,000 patients annually.  CHD operates seven Primary Care Health Centers, one free-standing dental center, one free-standing vision and dental center, and thirteen School-Based Health Centers. 

About Greater Cincinnati Water Works
The GCWW mission is to provide customers within regional communities a plentiful supply of the highest quality water and excellent services. GCWW supplies more than 48 billion gallons of water a year through 3,000 miles of water mains to about 235,000 residential and commercial accounts, including the entire City of Cincinnati, most of Hamilton County and parts of Butler and Warren Counties in Ohio.

Greater Cincinnati Water Works water meets or exceeds all state and federal health standards.