Testing Finds Lead In 6% Of Children

Item: Testing finds lead in children: Material detected in 6 percent; levels are high for two kids /Mike Prager, SR

More Info: The first widespread testing for lead exposure among Spokane children found that 6 percent of those tested had ingested measurable amounts of toxic lead. Workers found that 32 children among 500 tested had lead in their blood, but only two of them had levels high enough to be of concern under federal health standards. The results in Spokane are consistent with previous tests in Washington state that found fewer than 1 percent of children have lead levels at or above the federal standard for concern of 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood.

Question: Would you recommend that individuals who live in older homes get their children tested — just to be safe? Or is this simply another instance of a potential public health problem that affects too few to worry about?