TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary agreements, and any subsequent amendments, between the City of Long Beach and the State of California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in an amount not to exceed $764,376 to continue the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (CLPP) Program to reduce the incidence of childhood lead exposure in Long Beach for the period of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2018. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Since 2002, the California State Department of Health Services has allocated funds to the Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) to administer the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention (CLPP) program. The primary goal of the CLPP program is to prevent lead poisoning in children under the age of six years through outreach to the community including parents, teachers, caregivers, physicians, neighbors and friends. The secondary goal is to ensure that children with lead poisoning are followed by a physician and live in a lead-safe environment, through case management by a Public Health Nurse and inspections by a Registered Environmental Health Specialist.
Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around homes, and was banned for use in paint in 1978 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An elevated blood lead level in a child is defined as five or more micrograms of lead in a deciliter of blood. Lead poisoning is primarily a problem for children under the age of six, both because they tend to be more “auto-oral exploratory” (i.e., they put more things in their mouths) than older children and adults, and because children exhibit more pronounced health symptoms than adults at the same blood lead level. In addition, lead poisoning is particularly troubling in young children because the neurobehavioral problems caused by low levels of lead exposure at this age can be permanent; they do not necessarily recede when the exposure to lead en...
Click here for full text