Childhood Lead Poisoning

Lead poisoning in children is preventable. Yet many children needlessly suffer from it, usually because they've breathed in particles of lead-based paint from older homes, some toys, and elsewhere. Once lead poisoning occurs, the damage to a child's health is permanent. Direct effects can include reading disabilities, attention deficit, hyperactivity, and behavioral problems. Many children need special medical care and special education services. In addition, studies link as much as 10 percent of juvenile delinquency to lead poisoning.

Study links lead poisoning to Connecticut children's performance on achievement tests

Lawmakers act to end lead poisoning

A special session of the Connecticut General Assembly in June 2007 included passage of major legislation aimed at ending childhood lead poisoning. Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed the bill into law on June 26, 2007. Read more

The Facts about Lead Poisoning in Children

A May 2007 fact sheet prepared by the Commission on Children. Download as a PDF

Lead-paint toys and Connecticut law

This August 2007 report from the Office of Legislative Research gives a summary on the topic. Download as a PDF | Visit the OLR website

Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH)

Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Program (LPPCP). The goal of LPPCP is to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in Connecticut by the year 2010. Read more
The Connecticut Lead Surveillance Report. This report contains statewide and town-by-town information on lead screening rates, the prevalence and incidence of elevated blood lead levels (EBLL), compliance rates, demographic data, and Medicaid screening and EBLL statistics. 2009 report (PDF) | Previous reports

Connecticut Lead Action for Medicaid Primary Prevention (LAMPP)

This is an early-intervention and prevention program to reduce lead hazards for Medicaid-eligible children under 6 years of age. Approaches include education of families and their landlords, risk assessments, and low-cost interim control measures. Contact information

CDC Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an arm of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, is committed to eliminating elevated blood lead levels in children by 2010. Visit the program's website

Federal Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC)

The Office was created in 1991 to eliminate lead-based paint hazards in America's privately owned and low-income housing. It describes itself as "unique among federal agencies dealing with lead-based paint hazards" because it "brings science to bear directly upon America's housing and provides grants for communities to address their own lead paint hazards."
Visit the OHHLHC website

Toy recalls by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

For the latest recalls, visit CPSC.gov.

HealthyToys.org

Set up by the Ecology Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, this site lists toys according to type or brand and then identifies any chemicals found in them. Visit HealthyToys.org

This page was last updated on February 14, 2012