The number of NJ kids with too much lead in their blood is up for the 1st time in years – NJ.com

Persistent lead problems in Newark may be fueling a surge in New Jersey children with elevated levels of the toxic metals in their blood, a new state report has revealed.

Across the Garden State, 2.5 percent of kids between six months and 26 months old showed high blood levels in 2017, according to newly released statistics from the New Jersey Department of Health. That’s a slight increase from 2.4 percent in 2016.

The highest numbers come from Newark, where 281 children between six months old and 26 months old tested in the city showed high lead levels in their blood. That’s 5.9 percent of all tested children in the city, up from 5.3 percent in 2016. It’s Newark’s first increase in the city’s childhood lead cases since at least 2013.

This is far from a complete picture of lead exposure in New Jersey, explains Peter Chen, a policy counsel for the nonprofit group Advocates for Children of New Jersey.

Chen said that the state’s childhood lead testing mandate — that child blood lead levels tested at 12 months old and 24 months old, or at least once before they turn six if the first two dates are missed — is difficult to enforce. Just 43 percent, or 92,075, of New Jersey kids in the six month to 26 month age range were tested in 2017, which is the most recent data available.

A child is considered to have high lead levels if the blood test shows five micrograms per deciliter of blood, a standard that was set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 and adopted by the state in 2017. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death, according to the CDC. No safe blood lead level has been identified.

According to the report, which comes from the state health department’s annual report on childhood lead levels, Newark’s 281 kids with high blood lead levels is more than any other large municipality — population of at least 35,000 — in the state.

“Elevated blood lead levels is an issue that we take very seriously,” said Dr. Mark Wade, Newark’s director of health and community wellness. “In addition to being New Jersey’s largest city, Newark’s high rates of childhood poverty and high number of homes built before 1978, causes our city to have the largest number of children under the age of six with elevated blood levels, but qualitatively approximately the same incidence of elevated blood lead levels as most other urban municipalities in the state of New Jersey.”

While Newark had the most children in the key age range tested, its only one example of the extent of the lead problem in other New Jersey communities with aging infrastructure.

According to the report, East Orange had the highest share of kids between 6 months and 26 months with high lead levels at 8.2 percent. Other municipalities like Trenton (7.3 percent), Atlantic City (6.3 percent) and Irvington (6.3 percent) also had higher shares than Newark in 2017.

The lead in Newark’s drinking water has hit a ‘jaw dropping’ high level, tests show

For the fourth consecutive monitoring period, Newark faces a state violation for high levels of lead in the drinking water.

The uptick in Newark’s numbers comes as the city is under heavy scrutiny for high levels of lead in the city’s drinking water. Newark’s water system has been slapped with violations for elevated lead levels for each of the past four six-month testing periods.

But Chen warned against totally blaming the city’s water woes for Newark’s spike in child lead levels. Besides water infrastructure, lead is found in old homes throughout the city. It’s even in the soil of Newark thanks to the heavy use of leaded gasoline in motor vehicles decades ago.

“Lead is baked into the infrastructure of the city,” Chen said.

According to the report, Newark has already taken a variety of steps to remove lead from the city. Those efforts are highlighted by the city’s Lead-Safe Houses, which are used to relocate residents with children that have high blood lead levels who have no other lead-free housing options. Newark’s Lead-Safe Houses are the only such program in the state.

“This is a great accomplishment that other municipalities have expressed an interest in also achieving,” Dr. Wade said of the Lead-Safe Houses.

Newark is also working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to identify and remediate homes in the city built before the 1970s that still have original lead paint. According to Dr. Wade, the city has removed the lead from 93 homes since work started in the summer of 2017. The goal is to have 175 homes remediated by this September.

But Chen said that the state report shows a need for renewed focus on lead abatement work around New Jersey, not just in Newark.

“Until we get the lead out, we’re going to continue to see kids exposed to lead year after year,” Chen said.

Read the full state report below:

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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