IDPH Marks Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 19-25

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is observing Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 19-25, and reminding all mother and father and caregivers of younger kids to pay attention to threat components for lead poisoning and the way to stop it.

IDPH has been steadily increasing the state’s testing routine for lead publicity in kids, progressively rising the variety of high-risk ZIP codes the place blood testing is required, because the state strikes towards common lead testing in 2026. Additionally, Illinois has adopted a extra stringent normal, which requires medical intervention for checks that present a confirmed blood lead degree of three.5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). In these circumstances, a house inspection is carried out to find out the supply of the lead contamination. If lead is discovered, the inspector works with the house owner to take away the sources of lead. In addition, a public well being nurse will contact the household about methods to guard kids from the dangerous results of lead.

“Protecting our children from the harmful effects of lead exposure is a critical public health priority,” mentioned IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “The Department continues to expand lead testing and adopt stricter standards to ensure that Illinois’s children stay safe. During this Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and every week, we encourage Illinoisians to be aware of potential risk factors for lead exposure and how early intervention can prevent our children from experiencing development delays and other associated health concerns.”

Since adopting the extra stringent normal in 2025, Illinois has seen a pointy uptick in circumstances requiring intervention. Testing from January by means of August of 2025 confirmed a 56% improve within the variety of checks indicating an elevated blood lead degree, in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, underneath the earlier normal of 5 µg/dL.

Overall, since 2010, roughly 42,000 kids within the state have examined constructive for elevated ranges of lead, round 2.5% of all who have been examined. But since testing didn’t cowl everybody, it’s feared that as many as 28,000 kids within the state who weren’t examined might be in danger. Illinois’s transfer to implement common lead testing by the summer time of 2026 ought to determine many extra kids who’ve been uncovered to dangerous ranges of lead, permitting them to acquire wanted companies.

Lead publicity is mostly related to paint in properties constructed earlier than 1978, however lead may additionally be discovered within the soil round some properties, in addition to in lead pipes, or in sure toys or shopper merchandise imported from abroad. For extra info on sources of lead poisoning, go to Lead Source Guide. For extra info on Illinois’s lead poisoning prevention efforts, go to Lead Poisoning Prevention.