Childhood lead poisoning prevention program - childhood lead poisoning prevention and surveillance of blood lead levels in childrencdc-RFA-EH21-2102KANSAS department of health and environmentproject…

Childhood lead poisoning prevention program - childhood lead poisoning prevention and surveillance of blood lead levels in childrencdc-RFA-EH21-2102KANSAS department of health and environmentproject abstract summarythe most common source for lead exposure in kansas?s children is lead-based paint in older housing. Statewide, 28.4% of homes were built before 1950 and 44.0% were built between 1950 and 1979. In three major counties, sedgwick (21.0% and 47.2% respectively), shawnee (23.5% and 51.5% respectively), and wyandotte (50.6% and 34.7% respectively), the percentage of housing likely to contain lead-based paint is similarly high. Kansas has areas with historical lead contamination from industry and mining activities, as well as current industries with the potential for adults to bring lead contamination into the home. The number of children under age 6 years that were tested for blood lead peaked in 2011 with 34,621 individual children tested. According to data submitted to the CDC, 28,079 children were tested in 2019. According to the intercensal population estimates, the population of 0 to < 6 aged children in kansas has decreased by about 11,000 from 2014 to 2018. When contrasting two years, statewide there were 406 children in 2014 and 472 children in 2019, and 243 children in 2020 between 0 and less than 6 years with confirmed levels of 5 UG/DL and greater. The higher populated counties of sedgwick, shawnee, and wyandotte had 162 cases (39.9%) in 2014 and 161 cases (34.1%) in 2019 between them. Two additional counties, montgomery with county-wide environmental contamination from an old zinc smelting site and saline with a major battery manufacturing plant with historical violations for the national ambient air quality standard for lead, had an additional 26 cases (6.4%) in 2014 and 43 cases (9.3%) in 2019 between them. Over the past 15 years, typically less than 15% of children are screened for blood lead each year leaving much unknown about the true burden of blood lead poiso ning in the state. The percent of medicaid enrolled children under 6 years of age that have been tested for blood lead was highest in 2011 at approximately 17.4% and was not tracked for surveillance purposes again until funding resumed in 2018. The percent of medicaid enrolled children under 6 years of age that have been tested for blood lead has steadily declined to 13.9% in 2019. Strategies and activities are outlined in the application to further evaluate barriers associated with testing and implement a plan to address the most commonly cited issues to increase testing rates among at-risk children statewide. Funding from this cooperative agreement would be used to support the 3 main core components outlined in the notice of funding opportunity which are; ensuring blood lead testing and reporting, enhancing blood lead surveillance, and improving linkages of lead-exposed children to recommended services. The overall purpose of the program is to reduce childhood lead exposure and poisoning in kansas through secondary prevention strategies and activities. This will be accomplished by increasing the number of children less than 6 years old tested for blood lead, conducting blood lead surveillance to identify children with elevated blood lead levels, improved data linkage and data usage between partners, and increasing identification of lead exposed children linked to recommended services.