By ALEXIS GRANT

The Houston Chronicle

GALVESTON — All children in Galveston should be screened for lead to help reduce the city's high poisoning rates, a subcommittee of the Lead Task Force told the entire panel Tuesday. 

The recommendation, which the task force has not yet endorsed, would include screening all children at ages 1 and 2 and at-risk children ages 1 through 6. Parents would be required to show test records for students to enter kindergarten. 

Federal law already requires that children on Medicaid be tested at ages 1 and 2. But some cities and states with high lead-poisoning rates have adopted stricter standards similar to what health officials and community leaders are considering in Galveston. 

"If that's recommended for Medicaid children, we really think that's something we should adopt as a community," said Sharon Petronella, a member of the screening subcommittee and an associate professor in pediatrics at Galveston's University of Texas Medical Branch. "Do we have the resources at this point? Not necessarily, but this is what we think should happen for public health." 

Testing children at ages 1 and 2 also would put Galveston in line with recommendations by Texas health officials, who encourage universal testing but do not require it. 

A blood test to determine whether a child is poisoned with lead costs about $7, said Winifred Hamilton, director of environmental health at Baylor College of Medicine. She authored a report released in November that showed one in five children in Galveston have high levels of lead in their blood. 

Lead screenings are covered for children on Medicaid, but experts say many of those low-income children still aren't tested. 

Some private insurance companies also pay for the screening. 

About 20,200 children under age 5 live in Galveston County, according to a 2006 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Several cities and states have mandatory screening laws. A law scheduled to take effect in Iowa this fall will require that all children be tested before entering school. State health officials are still figuring out how to enforce it. 

Lead poisoning can come from a variety of sources, but in Galveston the culprit often is lead-based paint chips or dust. Three-quarters of the island's housing was built before 1978, when lead was banned from residential paint. 

Ingesting a small amount of lead can cause neurological damage, lowered IQ and behavioral problems. 

If the subcommittee's recommendation is adopted, Galveston officials would have to decide how to define "at risk." 

Most municipalities with universal testing policies that target at-risk children use a combination of factors to determine who qualifies, including family income and the age of each child's home. 

Increased screening likely would require the county health district to add to its staff, since employees inspect the homes of children who test positive for high levels. 

In addition to helping identify children with lead in their blood, screening also is necessary to gather data to demonstrate the city's lead problem — a requirement for certain federal grant programs that target lead.

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For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org