Lead-Safe Wisconsin

Lead exposure in young children can cause reduced IQ and attention span, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and a range of other health and behavioral effects. Most exposures occur in homes or daycares built before 1978 from chipping and peeling lead-based paint and the lead-tainted dust it creates or where lead hazards have been created through renovation done without using lead-safe work practices.

Prevention of lead poisoning can be accomplished by eliminating lead-based paint hazards before children are exposed. Wisconsin's goal is to eliminate this disease by making Wisconsin's housing lead-safe, and by improving the detection and treatment of lead poisoning in children.

Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Information

Rock County health and housing partners receive funds to fix lead-paint and other hazards

Rock County and the Cities of Beloit and Janesville have been awarded a grant totaling $2.5 million (exit DHS) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address lead and other health and safety hazards in 120 Rock County homes. Housing units and funding will be equally distributed between the Cities of Beloit and Janesville and greater Rock County. Partners include: Rock County Planning and Development Agency, Rock County Health Department, City of Beloit – Community and Housing Services and the City of Janesville – Neighborhood Services Department. Contact: Dave Somppi, 608-757-5594.

Reading Readiness early in kindergarten negatively affected by lead exposure

Children attending a public kindergarten in Rhode Island were enrolled in a study of reading readiness at kindergarten entry (PDF, 943 KB), which is an early measure of a child's capacity to integrate cognitive ability and skills learned from a multitude of educational, enrichment and environmental exposures. Kindergarten is a critical time for identifying children with poor reading readiness and children with low lead exposure (5 to 9 mcg/dL) and high lead exposure (>= 10mcg/dL). Children with lead exposure of 5mcg/dL or greater showed a decrease in readiness scores as compared to children with lead exposure levels below 5mcg/dL. The lead exposed children scored 4.5 to 10 points lower.  

In May, 2013, Kristine Freundlich was nominated by the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and others for the Virginia Hart Special Recognition Award for her excellence in facilitating public health initiatives. Kris has been an essential partner of the Implementation and Oversight Committee that advises the state’s work to eliminate lead poisoning in Wisconsin. Her special talent for effectively bringing people together has helped Wisconsin strategically address eliminating lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning predicts poor school performance

Published in the Annals of Epidemiology in August 2012, a study of Wisconsin students  (PDF, 513 KB) showed that students whose blood lead test result before the age of 3 was between 10 and 19 micrograms per deciliter, indicating moderate exposure to lead, are at a considerable educational disadvantage compared to their unexposed peers 7 to 8 years later. Exposed students are at greater risk of scoring below the proficient level, an outcome with serious negative consequences for both the student and the school.

An opinion piece (Exit DHS) published on the Philadelphia Public School Notebook webpage on May 15, 2013, refers to the Milwaukee study and points out that the blood lead levels that caused significant learning problems in students exposed to lead before the age of 3 are insufficient to trigger environmental interventions under current policies in many US states.

First author, Mike Amato, briefly describes the study during the DHS State Health Officer webcast in October, 2012. The Capital Times reporter, Bill Novak, reported on the study (Exit DHS) on January 8, 2013 and quotes Marty Kanarek, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and one of the study's authors, that part of the racial achievement gap may be directly due to lead exposure in the environment.

Last year the National Center for Healthy Homes released a report on childhood lead exposure and educational outcomes. This issue brief (Exit DHS) highlights recent research on the dangers posed by low-level lead exposure and the resulting financial and social costs. Lead exposure occurs more frequently in low-income children and children of color and is an important factor in the educational achievement gap between children of different racial and income groups. Investing in the prevention of lead exposure and improved housing quality will yield improvements in educational outcomes. Also, an at-a-glance summary of the report (Exit DHS) is available.

Jeff Havlena Receives Tribute Lead-Safe Kids Award

Jeff Havlena, former data surveillance manager for the Wisconsin Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, received the Dr. Kitty Slota-Varma Lead-Safe Kids Award in April, 2013. Jeff was honored for his continued dedication to providing surveillance data to evaluate Wisconsin's progress in eliminating this public health disease. Dr. Kitty’s vision that Wisconsin could become a state where children are protected from lead has been brought closer to reality by Jeff’s energy and contributions.

Jenifer Place Revitalization wins Fair Housing Partnership Award

Common Wealth Development created Jenifer Place with the help of many partners. This project went from health hazard to lead-safe, affordable and accessible. Common Wealth Development accepted a Fair Housing Partnership Award on behalf of the project partners in late April at the Fair Housing Conference. Partners represented in the photo: Common Wealth Development Operation Fresh Start City of Madison HOME Program Monona State Bank Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Department of Health Services

Action level changed from blood lead level of 10 to 5

Previously, a child's blood lead level (BLL) of 10 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) was considered in need of action. In May 2012, CDC concurred with its advisory committee's recommendation to lower that level to 5 mcg/dL (PDF, 281 KB). The Advisory Committee also recommended that CDC change their guidelines so that actions previously identified for a BLL of 10mcg/dL or greater go into effect at the new action level of 5 mcg/dL. This change increases the number of Wisconsin children in 2010 considered at risk for cognitive deficits and other lifelong health problems, from 976 children to more than 9,000 children.

CDC's advisory committee recommends the following actions for a child with a BLL of 5mcg/dL or greater:

• If the blood lead test was a capillary, the test should be confirmed with a venous draw within 1 to 3 months.

• The child’s physician should provide education to the parents/caregivers on lead hazards in the child’s environment and then monitor BLLs and growth and development as the child ages.

• Public health officials provide education to the family in the form of a letter, phone call or home visit.

The new value means that more children will be identified as having lead exposure earlier and parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities can take action earlier. The advisory committee also said, as CDC has long said, that the best way to protect children is to prevent lead exposure in the first place. Read a story on primary prevention (PDF, 69 KB) written by a public health nurse in Rock County.

More information can be found in the advisory committee's report to CDC. (Exit DHS; PDF, 922 KB)

Mother Jones magazine article on lead and crime connection

Kevin Drum, contributing author to Mother Jones, carefully researched the science conducted on the connection between lead poisoning and crime statistics in this article that appeared in the January-February issue. He also appeared as a guest panel speaker on the Melissa Harris Perry show on MSNBC.

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Contractor Certification and Licensing Information

Wisconsin's Lead-Safe Renovation Rule

Apply online for your next certification

Apply online. Complete and submit your individual or company certification application. You will need to be able to pay for your certification using a MasterCard or VISA credit or debit card.

Contractor Corner: Your lead-safe renovation questions answered

Contractor Corner gets you answers to your questions about renovation and remodeling in Wisconsin. Contractors, rental property owners, property managers, school administrators, hospital administrators, maintenance personnel, daycare providers, homeowners, do-it-yourselfers and anyone else interested in additional information on the Wisconsin Lead-Safe Renovation Rule can use this resource.

3M™ LeadCheck™ now recognized test in Wisconsin (June 27, 2012)

Videos show how to work lead-safe step-by-step

These new videos provide step-by-step demonstrations of lead-safe work practices and were developed to supplement required training and certification. Contractors must be trained and certified to conduct renovation, repairs and painting in homes and child occupied facilities built before 1978. The videos are for:

• Certified contractors who are required to use these work practices when conducting renovation activities on older homes.
• Certified Lead-Safe Renovators to use when providing required on-the-job training to other workers.
• Do-it-yourself homeowners who will find these videos helpful in planning and conducting lead-safe renovation activities in their own homes.

The videos range in length from 4 to 14 minutes. A transcript and supplies list for each video are provided as additional tools. Please have your sound on or use headphones to listen to the narration. You will need a media player (such as the Windows Media Player) to view these videos.

Guidelines revised for the evaluation and control of lead-based paint hazards in housing

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a second edition of Guidelines which replaces the 1995 edition. HUD's web page (Exit DHS) has links to materials related to the Guidelines, including overview slide presentations, tables showing how the steps in conducting lead hazard control projects are supported by specific chapters and appendices in the Guidelines, and more.

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Last Revised: June 06, 2013