Lead in Michigan Children: State Department Releases 2015 Data [Map]
3.4 percent of Michigan children age six and younger are testing positive for elevated lead levels.
Nearly 5,000 Michigan children are testing positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood, according to an annual state report, or 3.4 percent of children six-years-old and younger. Eden Wells is the Chief Medical Executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She says cities like Detroit, Flint, and Battle Creek test higher than most areas.
“These are areas usually with old housing stock, old plumbing and water lines, as well as urban areas where many of the homes have not been renovated recently so you may have issues of old lead paint or remnants of old lead gasoline that we used to use up until the ‘70s.”
Eden Wells, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive
Wells says the ingestion of lead-based paint and tainted water may contribute to high-level lead poisoning. According to the report, nearly eight out of every 100 children in Detroit tested positive for high blood lead levels
