City Launches Public Health Lead Poisoning Prevention Awareness Effort

NEW HAVEN CT – Coinciding with National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, that begins Oct. 23, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, public health officials and other city leaders announced a new public health awareness campaign and engagement efforts focused on keeping people safe from lead.

Spearheaded by the New Haven Health Department, the campaign includes public advertising, literature distribution, community events, outreach to schools and daycares, educational classes as well as other resources available to city residents, property owners, and contractors to help keep themselves and others safe from lead, including free safety tips, home inspections, and funding to remove lead hazards.

"We want all our residents to live in healthy, lead-safe homes and to have access to the preventative information and resources they need to keep themselves and their families safe from lead poisoning,” Elicker said. “The City of New Haven provides free home inspections and, if lead is found, works with homeowners and landlords to remove these hazards at little to no cost for those who participate in our lead abatement program. I encourage New Haven residents to go to one of City’s upcoming community events or to go to NHVlead.org to learn more about what they can do to keep their children and families safe from the dangers of lead.”

Lead is a poisonous substance found in most homes built before 1978 when lead paint was a commonly used building material, among other sources of lead. It is estimated that over 80% of New Haven’s current housing stock was built before 1978. When children are exposed to lead, it can cause permanent and severe health problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and cause well-documented adverse effects such as: damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems. This can cause lower IQ, decreased ability to pay attention, and underperformance in school.”

However, lead poisoning is 100% preventable through education, “the removal of lead hazards from the environment before a child is lead exposed,” and “blood lead testing and follow-up care and referral," per the CDC

Thursday's announcement took place at 63 Pierpont St., a residence that recently completed a lead abatement project.

Since 2020, lead abatement has occurred at a total of 138 city locations through both lead enforcement actions and federal funds granted to the City of New Haven from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. T

he HUD lead abatement program now provides up to $15,000 per unit via a five-year forgivable loan program to undertake abatement projects with priority going to the seven opportunity neighborhoods: the Annex, Fair Haven, Dixwell, Dwight, Hill North, Hill South, and Newhallville. And to homes built before 1978 in which children up to the age of six and/or pregnant women reside or visit often.

At the press conference, the City also unveiled the New Haven Blood Lead Case Dashboard, a new online public resource and tool that provides real-time information about elevated blood lead level cases and tracks their progress as they move towards resolution from home inspection through abatement, in accordance with local and state regulations and laws. This dashboard shows the number of cases that were in progress or have been opened since New Haven's current lead ordinance went into effect in December 2019. In 2020, there were 134 cases. In 2021, there were 120 cases. To date, in 2022, there have been 112 cases.

New Haven adopted an "aggressive, pro-active intervention strategy and high standard when it comes required interventions" for any child under the age of six years old who has an elevated blood lead level, with a standard of 5 or greater micrograms per deciliter as compared to the current state standard of 20 or greater micrograms per deciliter.

Recent state legislation will require all towns and cities to adopt more stringent standards by 2025. Other actions the city has undertaken in recent years include increasing the overall number of lead inspectors, digitizing the Health Department’s lead inspection records and cases, and establishing the Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee.

“When children are exposed to lead, it can cause permanent and severe health problems, but it is also 100 percent preventable. That’s why the New Haven Health Department is committed to doing everything we can do get the word out about the preventative measures and resources available to residents to help make their homes lead-safe,” Maritza Bond, Director of Public Health for New Haven, said. “In the unfortunate instances where elevated blood lead levels are found, we are going to support those individuals and families in every way possible and we are also going to provide transparency into how those cases are moving forward through our new online dashboard.”

In advance of the National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Community Health Care Workers from the New Haven Health Department have been engaging with community partners and organizations, distributing educational literature, and putting up lawn signs, among other activities. During National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the Health Department will be engaging in daily community events to help educate residents (see list here) and to distribute clean-up buckets and other giveaways in partnership with New Haven’s Early Childhood Council. Neighborhood groups and community organizations can also contact the Health Department about inviting the Lead Poisoning Prevention Team to participate in their events by emailing Rafael Ramos, Director of Environmental Health, at rramos@newhavenct.gov.

In addition, to help build capacity for more certified lead abatement contractors, the New Haven Health Department is also providing free and low-cost certification classes and trainings. More information about these opportunities can be found at NHVlead.org.

More information about National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week can also be found at the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/national-lead-poisoning-prevention-week.htm