Literature Review
Background on Lead Lead is a naturally occurring metal found in small amounts (0.002%) throughout the earth’s surface and deep beneath the ground (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2014; Environmental Protection Agency, 2014; World Health Organization, 2010). It is described as a heavy, low melting, and bluish-gray metal (Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, 2007). The toxicity of lead has been known ever since Roman times (WHO, 2010), when a Greek physician and poet, Nicander, described it as “gleaming, deadly white lead” (Needleman, 2009, p. 235) and, Dioscorides, a physician of Nero, described “lead makes the mind give away” (Needleman, 2009, p. 235). World Health Organization cites (Eisinger, …show more content…
The CDC Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and Healthy Homes are both funded by the Department Housing and Urban Development to make homes lead safe in the fifteen communities that participate in the Connecticut Department of Social Services Lead Action for Medicaid Primary Prevention Project (LAMPP). The LAMPP project is funded by HUD and State of Connecticut Department of Housing. The program goal is to protect children before they are poisoned by lead hazards in their homes (Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 2014). LAMPP provides lead hazard control, energy efficiency interventions, inspections and plans for lead and home safety hazard removal (CCMC, 2014). The CDC lead and Healthy Homes funding is utilized by CT-DPH. These programs assist families who have lead poisoned children by providing medical and environmental case management services. Additionally, through these funds DPH maintains the state’s lead surveillance system by recording, receiving, analyzing and reporting blood lead levels on an annual basis to the local agencies. Also, they target pediatric practices with low lead screening rates and give the physicians on-site training, and oversee the activities of the local and regional health departments by keeping track of outreach, environmental investigations, and lead abatements (LAMPP Project- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, n.d.). The Lead Poisoning and Regional Treatment Center …show more content…
The program helps homeowners to receive a forgivable loan to assist them to get a full abatement because of a child’s elevated blood lead level. Additionally, funds are used to give forgivable loans to owners who have a vacant building that needs lead abatement for a lead safe environment (New Haven Health Department Annual Report, 2012).
Connecticut’s Lead Surveillance System- MAVEN Connecticut’s lead surveillance system (MAVEN) has been maintained since 1994, but in 2010 the CT-DPH and Healthy Homes program upgraded to a new web-based system which features birth records and child blood lead levels. The lead surveillance system can be accessed by local health department staff for better case management services (CT-DPH Lead Surveillance Report, 2012). According to the CT-DPH lead surveillance report (2012) 61 local health departments are using the state’s lead surveillance system.
Lead Screening in