Throughout all of Wayne County,  Detroit had the highest number of children under the age of 6 with elevated blood levels at or above 5 ug/dL, according to the most recent data released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. This document details blood lead levels for children under the age of 6 across the State of Michigan was published in 2020; the data is from 2018. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 5 ug/dL is used as a reference level by experts “to identify children with blood lead levels that are much higher than most children’s levels.” The CDC has recommended that public health actions be initiated in children under age 6 with blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). Babies and young children can be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths.

When examining the first map below, which of Wayne County and Detroit by zip codes, we see that the 48210 zip code (which is in Detroit) had 118 children under the age of 6 with elevated blood levels at or above 5 ug/dL. There were 9 zip codes in the City of Detroit where 70 or more children under the age of 6 had elevated blood levels at or above 5 ug/dL. In total, there were more than 1,200 cases of children under the age of 6 who had elevated blood levels at or above 5 ug/dL, according to the data. When looking at the percentage of children under the age 6 with elevated blood lead levels, Detroit again had the highest statistic locally. As shown in map 2, the 48206 zip code had the highest percentage of children under the age of 6 with elevated blood levels at or above 5 ug/dL at about 18 percent. This same zip code (48206) had 99 children under the age of 6 with elevated blood lead levels. For the zip codes that make up Detroit, between 1 and 18 percent of children under the age of 6 had elevated blood lead levels. There were eight zip codes in the City where 10 percent of more of the children under the age of 6 had elevated blood lead levels. 

Outside of the City of Detroit and Highland Park, Taylor had among the highest number of children under the age of 6 with elevated blood levels at 10 in Wayne County, which was equivalent to 1 percent of the children tested having the elevated blood levels. Additionally, none of the other zip codes in Wayne County where children were tested for elevated blood lead levels had more than 2.2 percent of children under the age of 6 with elevated blood levels. 

While the data shows that in the Metro-Detroit area cities like Detroit and Highland Park, which have median household incomes below that of the State of average and several cities in the area, have among the highest number and percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels there are pockets elsewhere in the State. For example, in Muskegon, 8 percent of the children below the age of 5 had elevated blood lead levels, which was equivalent to 64 children, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

Overall, blood lead level testing has declined by 61 percent in the State of Michiganin March, April and May compared to last year, according to a recent Lansing State Journal article that reported Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data. Furthermore, in the article Thomas Largo, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services environmental health surveillance section manager said some of the most concerning declines in testing were in high-risk cities such as Lansing, Flint and Detroit.

While we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic we cannot divert our attention from public health matters such as lead poisoning. The risk of lead poisoning doesn’t stop just because we stop paying attention to it. Funding for and the action of testing must continue, as should actions to mitigate the causes of lead poisoning.