Investigates

11 Investigates: Lack of lead testing in children

PITTSBURGH — Less than a week before the Allegheny County Board of Health votes on whether to require lead testing for all children, 11 Investigates has learned only a small percentage of children in several communities are getting tested.

According to estimates from the Allegheny County Health Department, less than 14 percent of 1-year-olds in communities like Moon, Jefferson Hills, Hampton and Pittsburgh neighborhoods Highland Park and Southside Slopes were tested for lead in 2016. That’s one in seven 1-year-olds.

Dr. Karen Hacker, the county health director, said lead paint is the main cause of lead poisoning. She estimates 80 percent of the county's housing stock was built before 1978, when lead paint was banned nationwide.

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Kathy Johnston-Keane lives in an older house in Churchill, so she decided to have her 2-year-old daughter tested for lead exposure.

“It's the home my husband actually grew up in, so you think it's perfectly safe because you grew up there. Then, you have your own child and you start thinking of things differently,” Johnston-Keane said. “The fact that people aren't taking advantage of that test, which is available and a very routine procedure, kind of surprises me.”

Numbers show that income level has little impact on children getting tested. At least 54 percent of 1-year-olds were tested in lower income Pittsburgh neighborhoods like East Hills and parts of Homewood in 2016.

Hacker believed Medicaid could be a factor because it requires lead testing in children.

“While some may say 50 percent is good, I would say we have room to go up in many of these jurisdictions,” Hacker said.

PHOTO: Allegheny County Health Department estimates of 1-year-old children who were tested for lead in 2016:

 

Cox Media Group

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