The California Department of Health Services has recently implemented a new state-wide Targeted Blood Lead Screening Policy that requires a blood lead test at age 12 and 24 months for all children who receive services from Medi-Cal, California Health Disability Prevention (CHDP), Healthy Families or the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. This new policy will affects hundreds of thousands of children in California.

Linda Burk, Coordinator of the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, states that the recent policy change sends a strong message about the importance of lead testing in children. "The new regulation really promotes what we stand for," said Linda Burk, Coordinator of the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. "We stress the importance of testing young children for lead poisoning in the hopes of detecting this illness early."

Burk noted that July 16 – July 22 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is and is the chance to promote lead testing as a simple means of preventing lead poisoning in children.

Burk noted that new studies from the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati indicate that more children than previously thought might have lead-linked mental impairment due to low levels of circulating lead in their bloodstream. A new University of Pittsburgh study discovered that higher bone-lead levels were found in those convicted of delinquency that in a comparison group.

"We also want people to be aware that there is California Health and Safety Code regulation 1367.35 that was implemented back in 1993 requiring all health plans to cover screening costs for blood lead levels," Burk stated. "This is an important regulation that brings needed clout to parents who want their children tested for lead poisoning. The health plans are now accountable."

Background Facts on Lead Poisoning

According to recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates, 890,000 U.S. children age 1-5 have elevated blood lead levels, and more than one-fifth of African-American children living in housing built before 1946 have elevated blood lead levels. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death. Permanent brain damage can be a result of lead poisoning effects on the young child's brain.

It is known that lead is stored in bones for up to 20 years. Although a child's Blood Lead Level (BLL) may be elevated, this elevated BLL does not adequately reflect what may be stored in a child's bone. This storage deposit in the bone can be released during times of stress and start circulating again. There have also been reports linking elevated BLL with decrease in growth stature, renal impairment and hypertension.

Why is lead so toxic? The body mistakes lead for calcium when ingested. The lead then attaches to and disrupts enzymes essential to the functioning of the brain and other cells. The body never decomposes the lead into another, more easily tolerated substance, because lead is a heavy element that does not biodegrade.

SYMPTOMS OF LEAD POISONING

• Headaches
• Irritability
• Abdominal Pain
• Vomiting
• Anemia
• Weight Loss
• Poor Attention Span
• Noticeable Learning Difficulty
• Slowed Speech Development
• Hyperactivity

• Reading and Learning Disabilities
• Speech and Language Handicaps
• Lowered I.Q.
• Neurological Deficits
• Behavior Problems
• Mental Retardation
• Kidney Disease
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• Death

The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (HSA) is an outpatient medical system with 9 medical offices located throughout Stanislaus County. The HSA operates the Public Health Department, an Urgent Care Center and multiple programs serving over 400,000 patients and clients each year in Stanislaus County. The HSA also is in local partnerships for the MOMobile project and the Stanislaus Family Practice Residency Program. The HSA has extensive community health information available at its web site www.schsa.org