Children across Allegheny County continue to be harmed by lead in places they live, learn and play. The situation is even more critical within Environmental Justice areas of the City of Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley, which have the highest blood lead level rates for kids 6 years old and under. But there is a continued lack of awareness, education and easy access to resources.
Sign the petition! Add your name to sign onto the letter below urging area healthcare providers and government agencies to do more to address ongoing lead problems in Allegheny County.
The Letter:
"On behalf of the undersigned organizations, elected officials and residents across Allegheny County, we urge you to partner with us to better address ongoing lead problems here in Allegheny County by:
- Meeting residents where they’re at by taking mobile testing vans and labs to students at schools in vulnerable areas and collaborate with local organizations to have pop up clinics for community members to get tested for lead and proper follow up.
- Requiring doctor health assessments surveys are asked more frequently.
- Expanding age requirements to also test children between the ages of 4 and 6 for lead
- Providing parents/guardians information on where they can access free lead testing
- Providing parents/guardians resources on free and public transportation that can help them get to and from testing sites.
We’re concerned that lead is continuing to harm us but there is a lack of awareness, education and easy access to resources. Lives are being impacted negatively because of this, especially in our most vulnerable populations within certain areas of the City of Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley. According to the last lead report conducted by Allegheny County Health Department, from 2017 - 2021 areas in the City of Pittsburgh and Mon Valley were the highest for kids age 6 or under with elevated blood lead levels of 5ug/dl. Based on records obtained by KDKA Investigates, we also know that 91% of school districts in Pennsylvania tested positive for lead, including those in the Pittsburgh Public School District. It’s important to recognize though that students can be impacted by lead from sources other than water in the school. We need to be aware of the potential presence of lead in old school infrastructure like chipped walls and railings, in addition to the soil on each campus. To make matters more complicated 85% of homes in Allegheny County were built before 1978, which means unless conscientiously removed people are already dealing with lead.
We know no level of lead is safe. It impacts our health in so many ways as we know it causes hypertension, low birth rate and lower IQs. Furthermore, areas that are high in lead are also high in violent crimes. These impacts though are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems.
Now that the current federal blood reference level for lead level is 3.5 ug/dl, we are even more concerned about the people who were overlooked from the last series of testing. We believe there are a lot of people who are suffering in silence without a clue.
Again, no level of lead is safe! That’s why we urge you to join us in doing more to address this issue in Allegheny County by expanding testing ages, finding ways to bring testing to where vulnerable populations are and ensuring greater completion of doctor health assessments."
