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Vermont's lead poisoning prevention program reports increased testing but officials remain concerned

Two gloved hands take drops of blood from a child's finger into a test tube.
Carlos Osorio
/
AP
A nurse draws a blood sample from a child at Eisenhower Elementary School in Flint, Michigan, on Jan. 26, 2016, after lead was found in the city's drinking water. In Vermont, children ages 1 and 2 are required to be tested for lead, while children between ages 3 and 6 are required to be tested only if they had not been tested previously.

The percentage of 1 and 2-year-olds who received a lead blood test reached an all time high in 2023. But public officials remain concerned about the number of kids who had dangerous levels of lead in their blood.

Lead is a toxin that can be especially dangerous to very young children, as it can damage the brain and nervous system, and create learning and behavior problems.

The Vermont Health Department says every child should be tested.

According to the annual Lead Poisoning Prevention report, the percentage of 2-year-olds who received a test jumped from 66.7% in 2022 to 82.6% in 2023.

And the percentage of 1-year-olds who had a test increased from 78% to 86.3%.

Previous to last year, blood level testing rates had never reached higher than 82% among 1-year-olds and 74% among 2-year-olds.

The Health Department’s Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Manager, Kelly LaMonda, said the state has been increasing its communications with pediatricians, and following up when the results are not forwarded.

And she also says the health department has been doing a better job in reaching out to doctors in New York and New Hampshire, where Vermont families sometimes receive care.

“It is the biggest jump we’ve seen,” LaMonda said. “I think it’s in part the work we’ve done to increase testing, but it’s also the work done to get the testing results. So it’s not only that more kids are being tested, but also that we’re getting more accurate results from practices.”

The state also made changes to how it estimates the number of children with positive tests, as two different blood tests are used.

Some kids get blood taken from their vein, while other get a less invasive capillary test.

Results from those tests showed that 873 children, or about 10% of all the kids who were tested, had traces of lead in their blood.

“Any child with lead is too many children,” LaMonda said. “But we do know that we have a lot of risk in Vermont. There are a lot of children living in homes that might have deteriorating paint, which is a leading cause of lead poisoning.”

The state spent $418,200 in fiscal year 2023 on its lead prevention program.

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board spent $1,588,283 from HUD for lead poisoning prevention, and the Burlington Lead Program spent an estimated $1,397,801 in HUD funds.

Overall, the three programs spent an estimated $3,404,283, a 44% increase from 2022.

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Howard Weiss-Tisman is Vermont Public’s southern Vermont reporter, but sometimes the story takes him to other parts of the state.
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