Lead Paint
A lower threshold for household inspections has resulted in positive results for house inspections and lead hazard removals in Maine, according to The Kennebec Journal. The state lowered the blood test threshold that triggers household inspections from 15 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood to 5 micrograms in 2015. Recent research published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice indicates the stricter standard has resulted in additional inspections of dwellings for lead paints and the inspections have resulted in more lead hazards being discovered and removed.
Maine is currently the only New England state that does not conduct universal testing for children, but was one of the first states to use the reduced threshold for the blood test.
The research – from a study of 351 residential inspections from 2016-18 – shows that inspectors were finding lead hazards for children with lower levels of lead exposure, between 5 and 9 micrograms. The research – published in February in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice – was conducted by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Maine.
“We have found that inspections of homes of children with 5 to 9 (micrograms of lead) are nearly as likely to identify lead hazards that require abatement as inspections of homes of children with 10 (micrograms),” according to the study.
In 2017, 322 Maine children tested positive for lead levels at or above the 5 micrograms threshold. Recent research from the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition estimated that nearly 1,800 children in Maine have had lead poisoning over the past five years, and another 853 children were likely poisoned but were not screened.
The study also analyzed 32 children who lived in a home prior to and after removal of lead hazards. Twenty-seven of the 32 experienced a decrease in lead levels in the blood by at least 15%.
A pending bill in Maine would require lead testing for all 1- and 2-year-old children in Maine. The legislation comes on the heels of a recent report from the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition that found 1,800 children in Maine were poisoned by lead in the past five years, and an additional 850 kids were likely poisoned but not identified.
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