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

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), taking place this coming week between October 20 and 26.

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 be engaging in community events and outreach during NLPPW, including: educational sessions for parents and caregivers with giveaways, cleaning demonstrations, read aloud sessions at schools, a free EPA-required course on lead abatement for contractors, and a panel co-hosted with New Haven Preservation Trust. These events will also include information about funding available for homeowners to remove lead hazards. The full schedule of events and activities can be found online at NHVHealth.org/events, in a shareable flyer, and listed below.

"We’re committed to ensuring New Haveners have affordable, safe, healthy homes, and making sure residences are lead-safe and that folks have access to the information and resources they need to keep themselves and their families safe in a critical component to our efforts,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “New Haven has the most aggressive lead prevention safety standards and intervention requirements in the state, designed to help ensure our children and families are protected from elevated blood lead levels. While our numbers are moving in the right direction, but we still have a lot more work to do. 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 children, 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 cause… damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems and hearing and speech problems.” However, lead poisoning is 100% preventable through education and proactive steps, particularly in the case of children ages 0-6, who become exposed to defective lead paint and invisible lead paint dust in and around the home.

"Lead poisoning is entirely preventable when families and homeowners are equipped with the necessary education and resources they need to shield young children from exposure," stated Maritza Bond, the Health Director for the City of New Haven. “In the previous year, there were 117 reported cases of children with elevated blood lead levels in New Haven. Although this represents a decline from previous years, our objective is to ensure the safety of all children from lead exposure in the future. Given that over 80% of New Haven’s housing predates the prohibition of lead paint, numerous children in our city are susceptible to its impact. Our aim for this year's National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is to raise awareness among families, contractors and property owners. We urge everyone to attend one of the upcoming events to gain insight into safeguarding our children from lead exposure."

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 complete epidemiological investigation of a child’s home is an elevated blood lead level of 5 or greater micrograms per deciliter, which exceeds the current state standard of 10 or greater micrograms per deciliter. State legislation will require all municipalities to adopt more stringent standard 5 or greater micrograms per deciliter by January 2025.

Other actions the City of New Haven has undertaken in recent years include increasing the overall number of lead inspectors, creating a public-facing Lead Abatement Dashboard, and establishing the Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee. Over the past year, the New Haven Health Department has organized or participated in 56 events across the city, reaching over 7,000 residents with crucial public health information.

In November 2023, through a federal grant from U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City of New Haven secured $7.7 million to be spent over the next 5 years to allocate towards 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 residents from other environmental health and safety hazards in the home. Since 2019, 308 homes in New Haven have been lead abated.

More information about National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week can also be found at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. 

EVENTS AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

The New Haven Health Department has organized or co-organized a series of events and outreach activities during National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. All of these events and related information is available at NHVHealth.org/events or by calling Glenda Buenaventura , Deputy Director of Environmental Health, at 203-627-0245 or emailing gbuenaventura@newhavenct.gov. Other information and free resources are available at NHVHealth.org/lead.

PRESS CONTACTS

Lenny Speiller (Mayor Elicker): (203) 725-4249; lspeiller@newhavenct.gov

Becky Rubenstein (Health Dept): (475) 321-4373; rrubenstein@newhavenct.gov