Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan;219(1):110-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.09.009. Epub 2015 Oct 9.

Evaluating the effectiveness of state specific lead-based paint hazard risk reduction laws in preventing recurring incidences of lead poisoning in children

Chinaro Kennedy  1 , Robert Lordo  2 , Marissa Scalia Sucosky  3 , Rona Boehm  2 , Mary Jean Brown  3
Affiliations

Evaluating the effectiveness of state specific lead-based paint hazard risk reduction laws in preventing recurring incidences of lead poisoning in children

Chinaro Kennedy et al. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Despite significant progress made in recent decades in preventing childhood lead poisoning in the United States through the control or elimination of lead sources in the environment, it continues to be an issue in many communities, primarily in low-income communities with a large percentage of deteriorating housing built before the elimination of lead in residential paint. The purpose of this study is to determine whether state laws aimed at preventing childhood lead poisoning are also effective in preventing recurring lead poisoning among children previously poisoned.

Methods: An evaluation was conducted to determine whether laws in two representative states, Massachusetts and Ohio, have been effective in preventing recurrent lead poisoning among children less than 72 months of age previously poisoned, compared to a representative state (Mississippi) which at the time of the study had yet to develop legislation to prevent childhood lead poisoning.

Results: Compared to no legislation, unadjusted estimates showed children less than 72 months old, living in Massachusetts, previously identified as being lead poisoned, were 73% less likely to develop recurrent lead poisoning. However, this statistically significant association did not remain after controlling for other confounding variables. We did not find such a significant association when analyzing data from Ohio.

Conclusions: While findings from unadjusted estimates indicated that state lead laws such as those in Massachusetts may be effective at preventing recurrent lead poisoning among young children, small numbers may have attenuated the power to obtain statistical significance during multivariate analysis. Our findings did not provide evidence that state lead laws, such as those in Ohio, were effective in preventing recurrent lead poisoning among young children. Further studies may be needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords: Blood lead levels; Childhood lead poisoning; Lead; Lead law.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

statement The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial competing interest in this article. Competing interests This study was supported by funding from the National Center for Environmental Health in agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Case selection diagram
Case selection was conducted separately for male and female children <72 months of age within specific cohort years.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of remaining a lead poisoning case in subsequent years following their cohort years, with comparisons made between MA vs. MS and OH vs. MS. 1 Adjusted for demographic characteristics, building characteristics and environmental factors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aschengrau A, Beiser A, Bellinger D. Residential lead-based-paint hazard remediation and soil lead abatement: their impact among children with mildly elevated blood lead levels. Am J Public Health. 1997;87:1698–1702. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown MJ, McLaine P, Dixon S. A randomized, community-based trial of home visiting to reduce blood lead levels in children. Pediatrics. 2006;117:2328–2329. - PubMed
    1. Brown MJ, Gardner J, Sargent JD. The effectiveness of housing policies in reducing children’s lead exposure. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:621–624. - PMC - PubMed
    1. CDC. Blood lead levels in children aged 1–5 years—United States, 1999–2010. MMWR. 2013;62(April):245–248. - PMC - PubMed
    1. CDC. Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; Atlanta, GA: 2012. Low level lead exposure harms children: a renewed call for primary prevention. Available at 〈 http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/acclpp/finaldocument030712.pdf〉.

Publication types