Exposure to lead can be very damaging to the brain and other body systems and its effects can last a lifetime. Lead exposure is particularly damaging to children under the age of six years old. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of lead in the human body.¹ Lead-based products have been reduced with the elimination of lead in paint products in 1978 and plumbing in 1986. Lead was also reduced in automobile gasoline in the 1970s and then eliminated in the 1990s. Rock County has seen these reductions in lead sources. With improved lead prevention efforts and increased testing of children, the percentage of lead-poisoned children has declined from over 30% in the 1990s to less than 5% in the most recent data of children tested (2021). 

Despite these efforts, Rock County continues to have lead-poisoned children, especially in families facing housing inequity and insecurity issues. Rock County has a high percentage of homes that were built prior to 1950, and paint in these homes continue to be a significant source for lead exposure. Rock County has six census tracts that have more than 70% of homes built earlier than 1950. Rock County also has several areas, especially in older parts of Janesville and Beloit in which over 50% of homes are rental properties.² Families that rent may have higher levels of housing insecurity leading to a decreased ability and power to make necessary repairs to such things as chipping or peeling lead-based paint that are leading causes of childhood lead poisoning. 

1. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention:  https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/about/index.html#:~:text=Key%20points,exposure%20before%20any%20harm%20occurs.  

2. Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking Program:  Childhood Lead Poisoning: https://dhsgis.wi.gov/DHS/EPHTracker/#/all/Childhood%20Lead%20Poisoning/leadPoisoningIndex/NOTRACT/Blood%20lead%20level%20of%20%3E%3D5%C2%B5g%2FdL/indexTwo