Inconsistent screening for lead endangers vulnerable children: policy lessons from South Bend and Saint Joseph County, Indiana, USA

dc.contributor.authorBeidinger-Burnett, Heidi
dc.contributor.authorAhern, Lacey
dc.contributor.authorNgai, Michelle
dc.contributor.authorFilippelli, Gabriel
dc.contributor.authorSisk, Matthew
dc.contributor.departmentEarth Sciences, School of Scienceen_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-07T17:50:06Z
dc.date.available2019-08-07T17:50:06Z
dc.date.issued2019-03-01
dc.description.abstractLead exposure is a major health hazard affecting children and their growth and is a concern in many urban areas around the world. One such city in the United States (US), South Bend Indiana, gained attention for its high levels of lead in blood and relatively low testing rates for children. We assessed current lead screening practices in South Bend and the surrounding St. Joseph County (SJC). The 2005–2015 lead screening data included 18,526 unique children. Lead screening rates ranged from 4.7 to 16.7%. More than 75% of children had ‘elevated blood lead levels’ (EBLL) ≥ 1 micrograms per deciliter (µg/Dl) and 9.7% had an EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL. Over 65% of the census tracts in SJC had mean EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL, suggesting widespread risk. Inconsistent lead screening rates, coupled with environmental and societal risk factors, put children in SJC at greater risk for harmful lead exposure than children living in states with provisions for universal screening. Indiana and other states should adhere to the US Centers for Disease Control’s guideline and use universal lead testing to protect vulnerable populations.en_US
dc.eprint.versionFinal published versionen_US
dc.identifier.citationBeidinger-Burnett, H., Ahern, L., Ngai, M., Filippelli, G., & Sisk, M. (2019). Inconsistent screening for lead endangers vulnerable children: Policy lessons from South Bend and Saint Joseph County, Indiana, USA. Journal of Public Health Policy, 40(1), 103–113. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-018-0155-7en_US
dc.identifier.issn1745-655Xen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/20234
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherPalgrave Macmillanen_US
dc.relation.isversionof10.1057/s41271-018-0155-7en_US
dc.relation.journalJournal of Public Health Policyen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us*
dc.sourcePublisheren_US
dc.subjectLead poisoningen_US
dc.subjectTesting rateen_US
dc.subjectUniversal lead testingen_US
dc.titleInconsistent screening for lead endangers vulnerable children: policy lessons from South Bend and Saint Joseph County, Indiana, USAen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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