Exposure to lead, even at low levels, can have lasting intellectual and behavioral effects on children, as well as many other health impacts on adults. That is why the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) is encouraging parents to get their children’s blood lead levels tested.

“Lead is not natural to the human body and even low levels in children have a lasting impact. The only way to identify exposure is by testing the blood,” said Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. “That is why as a pediatrician, I urge all families to have their children tested for lead exposure, per CDC recommendations. Early identification can prevent the most serious effects, so all children can reach their full potential.”

In Pennsylvania, by far the most common source of lead exposure among children is from lead-based paint in homes built before 1978. Over time, lead paint transforms into dust that can poison children and adults when they swallow or breathe it in. Other less common sources of exposure include toys, ceramics, and other consumer products, and drinking water when it flows through older lead plumbing or pipes where lead solder has been used.

Earlier this year, PDH published its sixteenth annual Childhood Lead Surveillance Annual Report, which includes data through 2021. In 2021, 156,018 children under 72 months of age were tested for lead exposure, and 4,850 (3.1 percent), were confirmed to have elevated blood lead levels.

PDH provides resources to families to prevent and address elevated blood lead levels.

Through the federally funded Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP), PDH works collaboratively with six local county and municipal health departments in Allegheny, Chester, Montgomery, Luzerne, Lehigh, and York counties to reduce lead exposure and promote childhood lead poisoning prevention.

Local partners invest CLPPP funding to implement strategies to ensure blood lead testing and reporting, enhance blood lead surveillance, and improve access to services for lead-exposed children.

PDH maintains a toll-free lead information hotline (1-800-440-LEAD) to provide information about lead poisoning prevention, testing, follow-up, and local resources.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is has introduced PA EdVentures, a new free monthly newsletter, delivering key updates, essential news, and other important information from us to you. PENN*LINK users will automatically receive the first edition in the next few weeks but will not be charged, since this is a complimentary new feature.

Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin was recently joined by Commissioner Kathryn Zerfuss from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), in a tour of the Cumberland Perry Area Career and Technical Center (CPACTC) to highlight the importance of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission oversees more than 9,000 entities which provide utility services across the Commonwealth. Those utilities and suppliers will need plant operators and technicians, industrial mechanics, engineers, line workers, electricians, solar developers, energy analysts, and economists as the Commonwealth moves through an energy transition that will bring systematic change.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner.

The 2023-24 commonsense, bipartisan budget makes a historic investment in students across the Commonwealth and includes $23.5 million to bring career and technical education back into the classroom, giving every student the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.