Last data update: Sep 16, 2024. (Total: 47680 publications since 2009)
Records 1-4 (of 4 Records) |
Query Trace: Allwood P [original query] |
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Ubiquitous Lead- A Challenge for the Future of Public Health
LeBlanc TT , Svendsen ER , Allwood P . Am J Public Health 2022 112 S628 Lead is a metal that has developmental neurotoxic properties for humans and is found naturally in the environment. The effects of lead poisoning—including death, cognitive and central nervous system impairment, and sterility—have been recognized for thousands of years. The industrial revolution increased usage of lead and the atmospheric spread of aerosolized lead particles significantly, contributing to increased blood lead levels among US children from 1900 to 1975. In response, exposure to specific sources were addressed with 1970s’ and 1980s’ federal policies to remove lead in paint and passenger car gasoline. As a result, childhood lead poisoning rates plunged during 1975 to 2000, from previously observed peaks, giving the impression that the problem was solved. |
A historical perspective on the CDC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
Allwood PB , Falk H , Svendsen ER . Am J Public Health 2022 112 s635-s639 Just over 50 years ago, the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971 led to the establishment of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since then, a broad, multifaceted environmental public health effort involving a wide array of government agencies and key stakeholders has led to marked declines in exposure levels and blood lead levels (BLLs) in the United States. Nevertheless, the effect of lead on young children and the resultant public health challenge remains. The scientific advances that have led to a better understanding of the deleterious effects of current lead exposures compel the ongoing public health efforts, with new shifts in emphasis and focus, to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. Although widely distributed in the environment, it is significantly related to poverty and inequity, particularly affecting Black and other minority children. Prevention has been a challenge only partially met, and lead poisoning still endures and remains to be fully eliminated. |
Ubiquitous Lead: Risks, prevention-mitigation programs, and emerging sources of exposure: Introduction and contents of the issue
LeBlanc TT , Svendsen ER , Allwood PB . Am J Public Health 2022 112 S630-s631 Scholars have produced a flow of published research confirming the harmful effects of lead at lower and lower exposure levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently uses a blood lead reference value of 3.5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. Children with blood lead levels at or above the reference value are among the top 2.5% of US children with the highest blood lead levels. | Lead poisoning prevention is complex and requires a recalibration of current public health approaches and perspectives. Lead poisoning prevention, as a model for the future of public health, forces us to boldly confront health equity issues such as safe housing, clean drinking water, safe schools and childcare facilities, environmental justice, community infrastructure repair, occupational risks, and so on. We must protect young children from exposure to lead to ensure that future leaders have the mental capacity to confront the challenges ahead. Thus, childhood lead exposure prevention should be a national priority. |
Update of the Blood Lead Reference Value - United States, 2021
Ruckart PZ , Jones RL , Courtney JG , LeBlanc TT , Jackson W , Karwowski MP , Cheng PY , Allwood P , Svendsen ER , Breysse PN . MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021 70 (43) 1509-1512 The negative impact of lead exposure on young children and those who become pregnant is well documented but is not well known by those at highest risk from this hazard. Scientific evidence suggests that there is no known safe blood lead level (BLL), because even small amounts of lead can be harmful to a child's developing brain (1). In 2012, CDC introduced the population-based blood lead reference value (BLRV) to identify children exposed to more lead than most other children in the United States. The BLRV should be used as a guide to 1) help determine whether medical or environmental follow-up actions should be initiated for an individual child and 2) prioritize communities with the most need for primary prevention of exposure and evaluate the effectiveness of prevention efforts. The BLRV is based on the 97.5th percentile of the blood lead distribution in U.S. children aged 1-5 years from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. NHANES is a complex, multistage survey designed to provide a nationally representative assessment of health and nutritional status of the noninstitutionalized civilian adult and child populations in the United States (2). The initial BLRV of 5 μg/dL, established in 2012, was based on data from the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 NHANES cycles. Consistent with recommendations from a former advisory committee, this report updates CDC's BLRV in children to 3.5 μg/dL using NHANES data derived from the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 cycles and provides helpful information to support adoption by state and local health departments, health care providers (HCPs), clinical laboratories, and others and serves as an opportunity to advance health equity and environmental justice related to preventable lead exposure. CDC recommends that public health and clinical professionals focus screening efforts on populations at high risk based on age of housing and sociodemographic risk factors. Public health and clinical professionals should collaborate to develop screening plans responsive to local conditions using local data. In the absence of such plans, universal BLL testing is recommended. In addition, jurisdictions should follow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requirement that all Medicaid-enrolled children be tested at ages 12 and 24 months or at age 24-72 months if they have not previously been screened (3). |
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