HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) - Tests have found one in seven children in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park had elevated lead levels in their blood in 2016, a rate higher than any other community evaluated by the state.
The state Department of Health and Human Services’ report from the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program found elevated lead blood levels in 14 percent of children tested in Highland Park.
The community of 11,000 residents is filled with old homes with peeling lead paint, a major risk factor for lead poisoning, the Detroit News reported . Lead paint is a common problem nationwide in cities with many homes built before 1978, when lead-based paints were banned from use in housing.
Highland Park is surrounded on all sides by Detroit, which had the second highest proportion of kids with elevated blood levels at 8.8 percent.
Federal guidelines say lead levels are considered elevated in children 6 and younger who have 5 micrograms per deciliter in their blood. High blood lead levels can lead to developmental problems, behavioral disorders and learning difficulties, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The percentage of children testing positive for lead increased from 3.4 percent in 2015 to 3.6 percent in 2016. But that increase is an aberration from the trending decline statewide, according to Tom Largo, manager of the Environmental Health Surveillance Section at the Michigan Health Department.
“We do feel like things are getting better,” Largo said. “Definitely the trend has been going down. Pretty clearly, we can say that things have been leveling off here.”
The report said elevated blood lead levels have declined more than 42 percent statewide since 1998.
In Flint, where hundreds of children were exposed to lead-tainted water after the city switched its water source in 2014, 2.4 percent of children tested had elevated blood lead levels in 2016.
Highland Park and Detroit were trailed by Adrian and Jackson - which each had elevated levels in 8.4 percent of its kids - and then Grand Rapids and Hamtramck at 8.1 percent.
Reducing lead exposure is a top health priority in Detroit, said Dr. Joneigh S. Khaldun, the city’s Health Department director.
A 2016 Detroit Health Department study found a link between lead poisoning and housing demolitions in the city, where 93 percent of homes were built before 1978, according to city data. The risk was most significant for youths who live within 200 feet of a demolition, especially those that occur between May and September.
“The primary reason for elevated blood lead levels in Detroit is peeling paint inside older homes where people live,” Khaldun said.
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Information from: The Detroit News, http://detnews.com/
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