You have full access to this open access article. Lead 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 β lead screening data included 18, unique children.
Lead screening rates ranged from 4. 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. Beginning in the early s, manufacturers incorporated lead into a host of products, mostly lead-based paint and leaded gasoline; global contamination of air, water, and soil resulted [ 1 ].
Global production of lead, largely for lead-acid batteries, has increased substantially since the s, even as lead was largely phased out of paint and gasoline [ 1 ]. The primary source of lead exposure in low and middle income countries differs from the United States US , with the former dominated by battery manufacturing and recycling and the latter by the legacy impacts of lead-based paint and fuel that resulted in concentration of lead in surface soils [ 3 ].
Globally, young children living in proximity to areas with high environmental lead contamination are at greatest risk of lead poisoning that can cause detrimental life-long neurological and physiological damage [ 4 , 5 ]. Lead can permanently decrease IQ, academic achievement, and economic achievement [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Further, studies have shown a strong association between childhood lead poisoning and criminal arrests [ 10 , 11 ], as well as other non-cognitive health issues [ 12 , 13 ].
After decades of progress decreasing lead hazards, the US continues to battle the environmental legacy of leaded paint and gasoline. US state laws governing lead testing of children vary greatly and are implemented inconsistently, resulting in abysmal testing rates.
