Coordinated effort can reduce lead poisoning More education and screening are needed.
According to a new analysis by the Maine Medical Assessment Foundation, one in nine children has blood-lead levels high enough to be termed lead poisoning. Even minute levels can cause learning disabilities, speech and language delays, and behavioral problems. Maine's Bureau of Health director, Dr. Dora Anne Mills, calls lead poisoning the top childhood environmental health hazard in the state. In part, physicians bear some of the responsibility for this problem. Even when tests are done and produce abnormal results, nearly a third are never followed up.