“Lead poisoning remains one of the most common and preventable pediatric environmental conditions even though the United States (US) has made great strides in reducing the number of children with elevated blood lead levels. One objective of Healthy People 2010 is to eliminate blood lead levels (BLLs) >10 ??g/dL among the nation’s children. US children living in poorly maintained housing built before 1978 are at greatest risk for elevated BLLs because of their frequent exposure to lead-based paint and lead-contaminated house dust and soil. The prevalence of elevated blood lead levels (i.e., BLLs >10 ??g/dL) among newly resettled refugee children is substantially higher than the 2.2% prevalence for US children. For this reason, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch and Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, in collaboration with the Office of Global Health Affairs and Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, developed the following recommendations specifically to address lead exposure among refugee children.” – Publisher’s description
