Events and outreach activities are scheduled throughout the City to raise awareness about the risks of childhood exposure to lead and how to prevent it. Information and other free resources available at NHVlead.org.

NEW HAVEN CT – Today, Mayor Justin Elicker and Health Director Maritza Bond announced the City of New Haven’s participation in National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW), which is taking place between October 22 to 28 and aims to reduce childhood exposure to lead by increasing lead poisoning prevention awareness.

To help educate city residents, property owners and contractors on how to keep themselves, children and others safe from lead, the New Haven Health Department will engage in daily community events and outreach during NLPPW, including: public service announcements, door-to-door canvassing and literature distribution, cleaning demonstrations, lead testing for children at the Health Department’s clinic, educational sessions at schools and daycare centers as well as information sessions on the City’s lead abatement programs for property owners and contractors. These events will include safety tips, information about free home inspections as well as available funding for homeowners to remove lead hazards. (The full schedule of events and activities can be found online at NHVlead.org, in a shareable flyer and also listed below.)

"We want all New Haveners to live in lead-safe, healthy homes and for everyone to have access to the information and resources they need to keep themselves and their families safe from lead poisoning,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “While we have a lot more work to do, the City of New Haven is setting the bar across the state with the most aggressive safety standards and proactive intervention requirements so that our children are protected from elevated blood lead levels. National Lead Prevention Awareness Week is a great opportunity for residents to learn more about the potential dangers of lead, the preventive measures they can take, and the resources available to them to help keep them, their kids and their homes safe.”

Lead is a poisonous substance found in most homes built before 1978 when lead paint was commonly used. It is estimated that over 80% of New Haven’s current housing stock was built before 1978. Lead exposure occurs when a child comes in contact with lead by touching, swallowing or breathing in lead or lead dust. When children are exposed to lead, it can cause severe and permanent health problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health and cause well-documented adverse effects such as: damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems. This can cause lower IQ, decreased ability to pay attention, and underperformance in school.”

However, the CDC adds that lead poisoning is 100% preventable through education, “the removal of lead hazards from the environment before a child is lead exposed,” and “blood lead testing and follow-up care and referral.” 

“The most important step that parents, caregivers and property owners can do to protect children from the effects of lead poisoning is to prevent lead exposure in the first place,” said Maritza Bond, Health Director for the City of New Haven. “That’s why the New Haven Health Department is committed to providing resources to our community about how to help make their homes lead-safe. We encourage residents and property owners to attend events next week and go to NHVlead.org to learn more.”

The City of New Haven has adopted an aggressive, proactive intervention strategy and high standards when it comes to required interventions for any child under the age of six years old who has an elevated blood lead level. Every child in Connecticut must have two lead tests before their third birthday. In the City of New Haven, the standard for conducting a lead inspection in the child’s home is an elevated blood lead level of 5 or greater micrograms per deciliter, which exceeds the current state standard of 15 or greater micrograms per deciliter. Recent state legislation will require all municipalities to adopt more stringent standards of 10 or greater micrograms per deciliter by 2024 and 5 or greater micrograms per deciliter by 2025.

Other actions the City of New Haven has undertaken in recent years include increasing the overall number of lead inspectors, digitizing the Health Department’s lead inspection records and cases as well as establishing the Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee.

Last year, the City also unveiled the New Haven Blood Lead Case Dashboard, an online public resource and tool that provides real-time information about elevated blood lead level cases and tracks the progress as they move towards resolution from home inspection through abatement, in accordance with local and state regulations and laws. This dashboard shows the number of cases that were in progress or have been opened since New Haven's current lead ordinance went into effect in December 2019. Since 2019, 251 homes in New Haven have been lead abated.

Also since 2019, through a federal grant from U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of New Haven has allocated $5.6 million to lead education, prevention and abatement. In addition, in 2022, the City was also awarded a $2 million HUD grant for its Healthy Homes Program to protect children from other environmental health and safety hazards in the home.

Events and Outreach Activities

The New Haven Health Department has organized the following events and outreach activities during National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. All of this information, including how homeowners can apply for funding assistance to remove lead paint, is available on the City’s dedicated lead poisoning prevention webpage (NHVlead.org), in a shareable flyer of events or by calling Amanda Baldwin, HUD Lead Program Manager at 203-584-1646 or emailing abaldwin@newhavenct.gov.

Not open to the public

More information about National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week can also be found at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website: National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week | US EPA and the CDC website: CDC - National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.

PRESS CONTACT

Lenny H. Speiller (Mayor Elicker): (203) 725-4249; lspeiller@newhavenct.gov
Becky Rubenstein (Health Dept): (475) 321-4373; rrubenstein@newhavenct.gov