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St. Joseph County Department of Health hosting free childhood lead testing event Wednesday

St. Joseph County Department of Health deputy health officer Mark Fox (left) speaks during an Oct. 25 press conference on childhood lead exposure with Mayor James Mueller (center) and 1st District council member Canneth Lee (right).
Jakob Lazzaro
/
WVPE News
St. Joseph County Department of Health deputy health officer Mark Fox (left) speaks during an Oct. 25 press conference on childhood lead exposure with Mayor James Mueller (center) and 1st District council member Canneth Lee (right).

The St. Joseph County Department of Health will offer free lead testing for children under seven years old in South Bend Wednesday as part of national lead poisoning prevention week.

Deputy health officer Mark Fox said childhood lead exposure can cause learning difficulties and behavioral problems, and it’s especially dangerous for pregnant people and children under the age of seven.

Lower income Hoosiers are at a higher risk, but Fox said all of St. Joseph County should be aware because of the age of its homes.

“Across the city of South Bend, 80 percent of the housing was built before 1980, which puts those properties at risk for having lead paint — which is the greatest source of exposure to lead in our environment,” Fox said.

The free lead testing event will run from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Studebaker School on 724 E Dubail Ave. Fox said that part of South Bend is one of the highest risk areas for lead exposure in the county.

“Only 8 percent of children in census tract 30 were ever tested for lead,” Fox said. “We need to raise that number.”

“The recommendation is that all children be assessed for their risk of lead exposure at ages 1 and 2, and those with increased risk to undergo blood lead testing,” he added. “If they weren’t tested at ages 1 and 2, then we want every child in the county to get tested before age 7.”

Fox and other officials spoke during a press conference held at the home of a health department employee who’s expecting a baby.

“We want to ensure that every child born in St. Joseph County comes home to a property that has been assessed for lead risk exposure, so we can ensure that children come home to a safe environment,” Fox said.

To that end, Mayor James Mueller said South Bend also offers free lead water testing and income-based grant funding for lead remediation.

Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.

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Jakob Lazzaro came to Indiana from Chicago, where he graduated from Northwestern University in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and a double major in History. Before joining WVPE, he wrote NPR's Source of the Week e-mail newsletter, and previously worked for CalMatters, Pittsburgh's 90.5 WESA and North by Northwestern.