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Charles Powell, left, 14, a sophomore at Barack Obama Academy of International Studies, and Willie Knight, 16, a junior at Westinghouse Academy, check the customer traffic near stores at the intersection of Lincoln and Lemington avenues as part of preparation for a lead education outreach project.
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Teens help fight lead exposure in homes through education, blood tests

Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Teens help fight lead exposure in homes through education, blood tests

Getting the word out about the dangers of lead, and how it threatens the health of young children and pregnant women, has taken to the streets this summer.

Pittsburgh high schoolers Willie Knight, 16, and Charles Powell, 14, spent a warm afternoon last week tracking customer traffic at two stores in Lincoln-Lemington as research for a lead education program designed and carried out by young people.

They shared the task of counting customers at the Brooklyn Food Market and LA Market, both located near multiple bus stops. The next step will be sharing their results with other teens who may return to talk to people there about preventing lead exposure and fixing lead hazards in their homes.

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“If people know their house has lead paint,” Willie said, “it’s better to fix it when you know there’s a problem.”

Charles Powell, left, 14, a sophomore at Barack Obama Academy of International Studies and Willie Knight, 16, a junior at Westinghouse High School, use GIS to track information see how the environment influences lead exposure.
Jill Daly
Pittsburgh students visit Flint, Mich. to develop tools to help assess lead exposures in Lincoln-Lemington

The two teens are part of a team that is using a computerized geographic information system or GIS to map neighborhood housing data, which includes the year a home was built, the construction material, its condition and number of floors. Willie, who will be a junior at Westinghouse High School this fall, showed how he has color-coded the age of properties on a map, accessible on his cell phone, from oldest to new.

The information can be analyzed as part of a report on their research. This summer 20 students are developing the health education outreach as participants in the nonprofit Youth Enrichment Services Learn & Earn program, according to program director Denise Jones.

“There seemed to be a disconnect between the Allegheny County Health Department and the community accessing information firsthand,” Ms. Jones said. “Students can bridge the gap between the community and the health department.”

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Karen Hacker, health department director, said community involvement is important to the lead safety effort.

“We really need them to get messages out there,” she said.

Meeting families in low-income areas with aging housing stock is just part of the communication strategy underway to reduce people’s exposure to lead in homes, soil and water throughout Allegheny County.

In the past year county agencies have begun a project to remediate older homes with lead paint and dust, which includes training contractors on lead-safe remediation practices. Dr. Hacker said a recent $300,000 Hillman Family Foundation grant will allow the health department to expand lead blood level testing in county health clinics for those without insurance and provide other resources and educational materials for parents and pediatricians. Next year universal testing of blood lead levels in children will be required in the county.

The health department expects to hire a staff epidemiologist in August to collect and analyze lead data, Dr. Hacker wrote in a recent email, adding that the job will establish what systems are needed “for ongoing reporting and assessment of the universal screening regulation.” 

Lead is especially harmful to the developing central nervous system of children and no level of lead in the blood is considered safe, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Concerns about lead in local drinking water in particular continue to challenge public officials, as the city works to replace water pipes containing lead and the county’s new Lead Task Force of health and policy experts, led by Dr. Hacker, has a six-month deadline to recommend a science- and data-based strategy against childhood lead exposure from paint, soil and water.

Dr. Hacker said the department continues to urge people to take additional precautions to protect themselves from lead in water (advice can be found in the “Low Down on Lead” PDF on the department’s website: www.achd.net/safehomes/pubs/pdf/Low-Down-on-Lead.pdf). If people are concerned, they should get their water tested, run cold water from the main drinking and cooking tap (directions can be found at www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm) and use NSF filters or bottled water, especially when preparing infant formula.

Some progress has been noted after partial lead line replacement was blamed for a spike in water lead levels at some homes served by the Pittsburgh Sewer and Water Authority. Some sites measured over 15 parts per billion for lead, the level that brings action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Those residents were contacted by the health department to make sure they were following the recommended precautions, Dr. Hacker said.

PSWA in July reported reduced levels of lead in tap water that bring the authority’s water supply back into compliance with federal rules. Samples taken in June at 128 residential sites revealed 77 percent were below 10 parts per billion for lead, with 90 percent at or below the 15 ppb.

The blood testing in children was put into law by Allegheny County Council on July 5. All children must be tested by the time they are 6 years old, starting Jan. 1, 2018. The schedule of testing starts at the age of about 9 to 12 months and repeats at about 24 months of age. If they haven’t been tested by that point, it should happen as soon as possible after 24 months and before 72 months of age or before entering kindergarten, whenever is sooner.

The ordinance says lead levels of 5 micrograms or more per deciliter of blood found in a needle-prick (capillary) test will call for the child to a have blood drawn from a vein (venipuncture) to be tested further. Since November, the state recommends early intervention for children with 5 micrograms and home investigations for those with 10 micrograms or above.

Universal testing, according to the health department, will discover where children are being exposed to lead. Although awareness may exist in scattered low-income neighborhoods, specific residences still need remediation of the peeling paint and dust that pose lead hazards. It’s expected more families will be found with elevated blood lead levels and they will have access to both child early intervention services and housing remediation programs.

The lead remediation demonstration project is called Lead Safe Homes, run by the county's Economic Development Department. It will use $4 million in federal, county and city funds, and is expected to pay for work in about 200 housing units. 

“The idea is to put infrastructure in place so we can do it long after the money is gone,” Dr. Hacker said of all the initiatives now underway.

The health department’s Housing and Community Environment Program has expanded outreach for families with children who have confirmed elevated blood lead levels, according to David Namey, program chief.

Since November, the department has been conducting home investigations for children with blood lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter or above. Before that, the level had to be 15 micrograms or above.

Mr. Namey said recently that there has already been an increase of families requesting inspections, expected to number 75-100 this year. Also since November, letters have been sent to more than 200 families with children with lower blood lead levels, confirmed at 5 to 9 micrograms, giving them information about the home remediation program and referring them to both the Safe and Healthy Homes program and early intervention.

Starting in June, the health department began calling an estimated 300 families with children at the 5- to 9-microgram level.

“We tell them about measures they can do to prevent their children from being exposed,” Mr. Namey said. “Over the phone we tell them how to keep their children safe.” 

Dr. Hacker said experts have told her it can take years to remediate homes and replace water lines sufficiently to make a difference. However, she said, “It’s a good time to get commitment to get lead levels down in all sources…. We should ultimately be able to prevent this.”

Jill Daly: jdaly@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1596.

First Published: August 1, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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Charles Powell, left, 14, a sophomore at Barack Obama Academy of International Studies, and Willie Knight, 16, a junior at Westinghouse Academy, check the customer traffic near stores at the intersection of Lincoln and Lemington avenues as part of preparation for a lead education outreach project.  (Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)
Floyd Jones, executive director of Youth Enrichment Services, running this summer's lead education program, takes a group of students, McKayla Dixon, left, Anesa Reed, both 16, and Diamond Turner, 15, through the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood.  (Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)
Diamond Turner, left, 15, a sophomore at Westinghouse Academy, hands a survey about lead exposure to Joshua Thornton, 33, outside the Lincoln-Lemington Family Health Care Center.  (Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
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