At the on March 11, 2021, Policy Director Gabriella Celeste offered testimony on behalf of the Schubert Center and the Ohio Lead Free Kids Coalition about the ongoing threat of lead poisoning for Ohio's children.
Thousands of Ohio children under 6 have been poisoned by lead and continue to be exposed to lead. The number one source of child lead poisoning -- 95% of the lead cases -- is lead dust from old homes built before lead paint was outlawed in 1978. In Ohio, more than 425,235 children under 6 years old live in these older homes and many of them are in neighborhoods both urban and rural that bear the brunt of historic disinvestment. The Ohio Department of Health reports 3,856 children tested with a confirmed elevated blood lead level (EBLL) of 5 or more micrograms per deciliter in 2018. Due to low testing rates and the substantial risk of lead exposure to young children, this number is likely a significant undercount.
The COVID pandemic has made the challenge of lead poisoning even more urgent, with more children spending extended time at home, indoors, reduced lead testing, and delays in lead investigation and remediation activities, leaving children at risk of ongoing lead exposure and lifelong harm