NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Melissa Bunker, (586) 219-0094
Get The Lead Out Detroit Coalition Encourages Testing for
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, Oct. 20-26, 2024
• Lead poisoning is 100% preventable and testing is critical to detect lead poisoning.
• Starting this year, it is the law that all children in Michigan be tested for lead poisoning between 12-months and 24-months of age.
• Exposure to lead hazards in and around the home has a lifetime impact on children – especially for those 6-years and under.
DETROIT, Oct. 15, 2024 – Get the Lead Out Detroit Coalition wants all Michigan families to test their children ages 6-and-under for the dangers posed by lead poisoning. Formed to share resources to protect children, families, and individuals from lead poisoning, the Get the Lead Out Detroit Coalition recommends testing young children and testing homes for lead.
This week is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (October 20-26, 2024), a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The 2024 theme is “Bright Futures Begin Lead-Free.”
The Get the Lead Out Detroit Coalition encourages Detroit families with children six years of age and under to have their children tested every year. Unfortunately, while testing is key to early intervention – only 21% of eligible Detroit children were tested in 2021. More than 1,000 Detroit children tested in 2021 had elevated blood lead levels.
During National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the Coalition is asking community members to spread the word about the importance of testing and understanding lead poisoning risks by sharing information with friends, community, co-workers, and organizations.
There are many ways to share:
• Invite the Coalition to in person or virtual events
• Share your story with the Coalition about experiences with detection and remediation
• Send friends to the website (https://leadoutdetroit.com/) for information about testing, preventing exposure to lead paint and lead dust, resources for home repairs, and safe cleaning protocols.
• Follow the Coalition on social GetTheLeadOutDetroit on Facebook and leaddetroit on X
• Join the Coalition as a community member or representing an organization.
Lead poisoning and lead contamination are often difficult to detect, especially in the critical early years of a child’s life while the brain is developing. Lead poisoning can result in damage to the brain and nervous system, learning and behavioral problems, slow growth and development, and hearing and speech problems that can afflict them for their entire lives.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law two bi-partisan bills to help ensure all the state’s young children can be tested for lead poisoning. Starting in 2024 under Michigan’s new universal blood lead testing laws, all Michigan children must be tested for lead exposure at 12 and 24 months of age (i.e., age 1 and 2). If there is no record of a previous test, children must be tested for lead exposure between age 24 and 72 months (i.e., age 6). Physicians must make sure that the child’s blood lead test results are included in the child’s immunization certificate. Parents/legal guardians may opt out of the testing.
Lead poisoning can be detected by analyzing a single drop of blood. Should that initial test find evidence of lead poisoning, health professionals will draw blood for detailed analysis. In addition to one’s primary care physician, caregivers can contact their doctor or the Detroit Health Department at (313) 876-0133 to make an appointment.
Visitors to the LeadOutDetroit.com website will learn about the dangers of lead and how to protect family members – especially those who are pregnant and children ages 6 and under – two populations who are disproportionately affected by lead poisoning. The site has multiple resources available in English, Spanish and Arabic.
For those living in a home built before 1978, LeadOutDetroit.com connects you to State of Michigan resources to find a certified inspector or risk assessor who can be hired to check the home for lead-based paint or lead hazards. Renters can ask their landlord to have the home or apartment tested or provide renters the previous test results.
About Get the Lead Out Detroit Coalition
The Get the Lead Out Detroit Coalition was established with the support of the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation with a purpose of reducing the number of Detroit children poisoned by lead hazards in the home and in soil by identifying and executing strategies to support lead safe kids and lead safe homes for families.
The founding partners include: Building Community Value; CLEARCorps Detroit; Data Driven Detroit; Detroit Future City; Detroit Health Department; City of Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department; Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice; DTE Energy Efficiency Assistance Program; Enterprise Community Partners; the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation; Kids’ Health Connection; Lakeshore Legal Aid; Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – MI Lead Safe; Rocket Community Fund; and Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies – Detroit Lead Advocacy Parent Group/DLEAD.
For more information, members of the public can reach the coalition by email detroitleadcoalition@gmail.com. Members of the news media are invited to contact Melissa Bunker at (586) 219-0094.