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

Intervention at lower blood lead levels in young children

Previously, a child's blood lead level (BLL) of 10 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL) was considered in need of intervention. In May 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concurred with its advisory committee's recommendation to lower that level to 5 mcg/dL (PDF, 281 KB). The recommendation was made due to the overwhelming evidence that lead exposure at levels below 10mcg/dL cause damage to the cognitive, cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems.

The advisory committee also recommended that CDC change their guidelines so that interventions previously identified for a BLL of 10mcg/dL or greater go into effect at the new intervention level of 5 mcg/dL. CDC recommends the following interventions for a child with a BLL of 5mcg/dL or greater:

• Confirm a capillary blood lead test with a venous draw within 1 to 3 months.

• Have child tested on the appropriate follow-up testing schedule.

• Get a complete history and physical exam on the child.

• Order the appropriate laboratory tests on the child such as tests for low iron or anemia.

• Monitor the child's growth and development, especially as the child ages and enters school.

• Provide education to the family on the sources of lead and how to reduce any lead hazards found.

This change increases the number of Wisconsin children in 2011 considered at risk for cognitive deficits and other lifelong health problems, from 876 children to more than 7,500 children. 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 exposure in the first place. More information can be found in the advisory committee's report to CDC. (Exit DHS; PDF, 922 KB)

Outreach tools for new lowered action level

The National Center for Healthy Homes developed, for parents, a fact sheet and checklist, Your Child's Blood Lead Test Results (Exit DHS; PDF, 861 KB). The fact sheet explains what a child's blood lead level means. The checklist lays out a plan for parents to follow-up with their child's healthcare provider and explore their child's environment for possible sources of lead exposure. CDC developed a tool, Blood Lead Levels in Children (Exit DHS; PDF, 292 KB), that provides guidance to healthcare providers for talking with parents about their child's blood lead level.

Lead poisoning education and intervention: A toolkit with recommendations and resources (P-00554; PDF, 469 KB) is now available, including resources specifically for clinicians.

Resources for community outreach range from print articles to social media messaging.

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School performance and behavior affected by earlier lead exposure

	Mike Amato (pictured here) is first author of a newly released University of Wisconsin-Madison Study of Milwaukee students. (Exit DHS) The study shows that children with moderate lead exposure before the age of three were nearly three times more likely to be suspended in 4th grade as compared to their peers who had little or no exposure to lead. This study showed that 23% of the education "achievement gap" between African American and white children was explained by early childhood lead exposure. "Children exposed to lead don't get a fair start and it affects them for their whole lives," adds study coauthor Colleen Moore, a UW-Madison psychology professor emerita affiliated with the Nelson Institute. Another study published last year conducted by the UW-Madison researchers on the same Milwaukee children (PDF, 513 KB) showed that students who had moderate exposure to lead before age 3 were at a considerable educational disadvantage compared to their unexposed peers 7 to 8 years later. Lead exposed students in the 4th grade scored below 4th grade ability, an outcome with serious negative consequences for both the student and the school. First author, Mike Amato, briefly describes the study during the DHS State Health Officer webinar in October 2012.
Reading Readiness Affected by Lead Poisoning	Children attending a public kindergarten in Rhode Island were enrolled in a study of reading readiness at kindergarten entry (PDF, 943 KB). Reading readiness is an early measure of a child's capacity to integrate cognitive ability and skills learned from educational and enrichment experiences. 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.
Poor school performance found due to lead poisoning across U.S.	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.

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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.

Wisconsin-Recognized Lead Paint Test Kits

Find paint test kits recognized for use with your projects in Wisconsin and learn the requirements for using these test kits.

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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: February 24, 2014