Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) again call on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take action to address the troubling decline in blood lead screening for at risk kids, including providing more resources and assistance to state and local governments.
“Since coming to Congress, I have been working to help protect our children from the harm posed by lead poisoning. One of the adverse impacts of this pandemic has been a decline in routine visits to doctors, including for blood lead screening.”
Through September 2020, the amount of lead tests performed decreased by 39% and the number of children tested decreased by 27% in the city of Milwaukee.1 Other reports have made clear this is a national trend. This decline has serious consequences, especially when you consider that these children are spending more time at home around possible sources of lead exposure.
“I am pleased to once again join my colleague Dan Kildee in writing to urge the CDC to boost its efforts to help state and local health departments to address the documented and significant drop in childhood blood lead level testing, including providing additional federal funding. We must continue to work to protect our children from the lifelong impacts of lead poisoning,” said Congresswoman Moore.
“The CDC must ensure that our state and local health departments have the resources they need to address the significant drop in childhood blood lead level testing,” said Congressman Kildee. “My hometown of Flint knows all too well the consequences of failing to protect children and families from lead exposure. I thank Representative Moore for her leadership and joining me in this effort to ensure this decrease in childhood blood lead level testing is addressed immediately.”
Lead poisoning has severe and long-lasting implications for childhood development. Lead exposure can lead to behavioral, endocrine and cardiovascular conditions, as well as learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental deficits. Research has shown that childhood lead exposure can impact healthy growth and development in addition to limiting lifelong socioeconomic advancement.
Read the full text of the letter here.
This letter is a follow up to a previous one the two sent last October to the Trump Administration. Additionally, Congresswoman Moore recently lead over 30 of her colleagues in urging the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in FY 2022 and for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control.
1https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/11/06/lead-testing-down-during-pandemic/
