Lead

Lead is a toxic metal that can harm the body, especially in young children and infants. Common sources of lead exposure include lead-based paint, contaminated soil, and certain consumer products. Symptoms of lead poisoning can include abdominal pain, headaches, and developmental delays. It is important to take steps to prevent lead exposure, especially in young children, as it can cause long-term health problems.

Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to negatively affect a child's intelligence, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. A blood lead test is the best way to determine if a child has lead poisoning. A child with lead poisoning may not have visible signs or symptoms. Many children who have lead poisoning look and act healthy. Parents can talk to their child's healthcare provider about getting a blood lead test if their child may have been exposed to lead.

Parents should talk to their child's healthcare provider about whether their child needs to be tested for lead. The child's healthcare provider may ask questions to see if the child is at risk for lead poisoning. The best way to know if a child has been exposed to lead is to have their blood tested.

Housing built before 1978 carries an elevated risk for lead exposure, and housing built before 1950 has the highest risk of lead exposure. Due to a ban on lead-based paint in 1978, housing built after this year carries minimal risk. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimated that 89% of homes built before 1978 had lead-based paint, accounting for the majority of the 34.6 million American homes that have lead paint in them as of 2018-2019. A study of young children ages 6 months to 2 years found that interior renovation of older homes — which often includes painting, sanding, scraping or other activities that might release lead dust into the air — further increased risk of lead poisoning. Over 3 million homes with children younger than age 6 had one or more lead-based paint hazards in 2021, 2.1 million of which were low income households. Investing in lead paint hazard control for communities at high risk could provide a return of $17-$221 in societal and health costs for each $1 spent.

In this map, we explore the relationship between the presence of older housing stock with testing rates within the community.

All values for percent of children tested are 5-year averages.

Combining information about a community's general vulnerability to the harms of disasters — like disease outbreaks and natural events — with current lead testing coverage (% of population under 6 years old tested) can help support and prioritize testing efforts.

This map provides such an assessment, depicting CDC social vulnerability data with local testing coverage — dark blue regions indicate low testing for lead in more vulnerable communities; lighter shades of blue indicate more widely tested populations.

All values for percent of children tested are 5-year averages.