Ramsey County marks National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
October 23-29 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
While lead is found naturally in the environment, it is also a toxic metal widely used for many years in products, and still used today on a more limited basis. Exposure to lead can cause serious health concerns, especially for children under 6 and pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Saint Paul-Ramsey County Public Health is working to create a safer, healthier environment through its Healthy Homes program, a collaboration by the environmental health and family health divisions of Saint Paul – Ramsey County Public Health.
The Healthy Homes lead unit offers a range of services to reduce lead hazards:
- Free home lead checks.
- A grant program to address lead hazards for qualifying properties.
Young children suffering from lead poisoning can experience learning, behavioral and health problems. When a child is poisoned by lead in their system, lead risk assessors and public health nurses from the unit meet with families to identify lead hazards in their homes, help address those issues and provide case management.
The Healthy Homes lead unit played an important role in identifying the Water Gremlin manufacturing facility as a source of take-home lead exposure to Ramsey County families in late 2019.
Dana Janowiak, a member of the Healthy Homes team, co-authored an article recently published in the American Journal of Public Health that describes the Water Gremlin case.
Work on the Water Gremlin case has led to stronger protections for laborers working with and around lead and established precedent for holding companies accountable for public health nuisances. The outcomes of the case have the potential to impact future laws and statutory authority for case management related to take-home lead dust cases.
The Healthy Homes lead unit collaborates with the City of Saint Paul, as well as community partners and non-profits including the East Side Neighborhood Development Co., Ramsey County Foster Care, and Saint Paul Public Schools’ Early Childhood Family Education program. These connections put Ramsey County Public Health staff in conversation with community partners and strengthens the effort to prevent childhood lead poisoning.
Learn more about the Health Homes lead unit's projects and resources.
Additional information about National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.