The state of Maine is committed to the goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning by? the year 2010. Not only is it a Healthy Maine 2010 goal, it is also a provision in Maine law, the? Lead Poisoning Control Act, which states """"""""The goal of the State in the area of lead poisoning is? to eradicate childhood lead poisoning by the year 2010 through the elimination of potential? sources of environmental lead."""""""" This statement in Maine law provides the Maine Center for? Disease Control and Protection (ME-CDC) with additional leverage in promulgating statutes and? regulations intended to achieve this goal.? Maine has a number of provisions in state laws that provide the Maine Childhood Lead? Poisoning Prevention Program (MCLPPP) with the authority to conduct and enforce? environmental investigations; in homes of children with elevated blood lead levels, and protects? families from retaliation by property owners. Other provisions in the law require healthcare? providers to collect blood lead screening tests on all one-and-two year olds, unless they can? demonstrate that the child is not at risk for lead exposure, and mandates that all blood lead? spscimens for children under 6 years of age be analyzed exclusively at the state public health? laboratory. This last provision provides the program with high quality, comprehensive blood lead? testing data.? The MCLPPP, operating in the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (MECDC),? has been continuously funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? (CDC) since 1992. In 2004, the program was relocated from the Division of Maternal and Child? Health to the Division of Environmental Health and integrated into the Environmental and? Occupational Health Program (EOHP). The EOHP is staffed with surveillance and? environmental epidemiologists, toxicologists, a database administrator, a comprehensive health? planner and a public health physician. The move of MCLPPP into the EOHP has resulted in an? enhanced surveillance program including spatial analyses to better identify high risk groups and? reinforce the program's emerging focus on primary prevention.? Using a statistical model based on the Phase II (1991-1994) data from the Third National? Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES El), CDC calculated that 2700 Maine? children aged 1-5 years were expected to have elevated blood lead levels (i.e. > 10 ng/dl),? ranking Maine 38th among 50 states. More recent data suggests that the current number of? chi dren in Maine with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) is now approximately 1,000.? Maine has seen an ongoing decline in the number of screened children aged < 72 months? wit i confirmed EBLL. This decrease occurred despite an increase in screening over the period of? 1957-2004. During this time period, there has also been a shift in the distribution of EBLL with a? decrease in the relative propoition of EBLL in the higher ranges and concomitant increase in the? proportion of EBLL in the lower ranges.? Maine is a large state with the lowest population density east of the Mississippi River;? fifty-five percent of Maine is considered rural. Maine ranks 36th in per capita income; nineteen? percent of Maine children under age 5 were living below the poverty line in 2002, the last year? for which data is available. In the 2000 census, Maine was identified as having the highest? population of white, non-Hispanic inhabitants. There is a small, but growing, population of? refugees and immigrants, primarily in two of Maine's largest cities, Portland and Lewiston.? National surveys indicate that residing in housing built prior to 1950 is one of the leading? predictors for lead exposure in young children as it often contains some of the highest amounts? of lead-based paint. Maine has a high proportion of housing built before 1950 (36%).? Approximately half of lead poisoned children identified in Maine reside in single-family private? homes, the other half in rental units. Data obtained from environmental investigations conducted? 2301-2004 in homes where lead poisoned children reside revealed that sixty percent of lead? poisoned children were in homes with recent or ongoing renovation activity with high levels of? le ad-contaminated dust.? MCLPPP utilized information on Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) to compare? children and lead exposure risks in rural and urban regions in Maine. The findings suggested that? the proportion of pre-1950 housing was slightly lower in rural versus urban areas; the proportion? of children aged <72 months below the poverty level was about the same as was the percent of? the lead screened population and the percent of the population with EBLL. The conclusion? drawn from this comparison was that children in rural areas in Maine are at least as likely to be? exposed to lead and to suffer from lead poisoning as their urban counterparts.? Maine has been a national leader in examining rural factors affecting childhood? lead poisoning. In July 2005, the MCLPPP collaborated with the CDC Childhood Lead? Poisoning Prevention Branch to convene a national summit on Childhood Lead Poisoning in? Rural States. The attendees developed surveillance, education, case management and primary? prevention models for use in rural areas.? The MCLPPP convened and continues to facilitate the Lead Elimination Advisory? Council of Maine (LEAd-ME), a vibrant and committed group of diverse people from across the? state. The LEAd-ME members actively design and pursue strategies to achieve their elimination? pl;m objectives, and regularly evaluate progress towards the defined goals.? The MCLPPP strives for program sustainability. Funding contributions are obtained from? multiple sources, both public and private. Support for primary prevention activities is directed? toward two principal objectives: education and remediation.? The most significant contribution comes from a legislative bill passed in 2005 that? imposes a 25-cent fee per gallon on all paint sold in the state of Maine. This fee, collected at the? manufacturer and distributor level, will fund the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, established to? provide public health education and training resources statewide. The fee is expected to generate? approximately $500,000 per year in state revenue. Much of the educational programs will? address lead exposures resulting from uncontrolled home renovations. This could immediately? decrease the childhood lead poisoning rate in Maine by 50%.? Accomplishing the second primary prevention objective, reducing exposures through? remediation of lead hazards, is accomplished through federal and private funding for lead hazard? control housing work. The Maine State Housing Authority was recently awarded a SI.2 million? HLTD grant to provide funding for lead abatement work in single-family homes and multi-unit? dwellings that are occupied by young children. Maine does not rely solely on federal funds for its? housing remediation work. The Lead Safe Kids Fund is a non-profit group that is part of the? national Coalition for Environmentally Safe Communities. With initial seed monies from FfUD,? the Lead Safe Kids Fund seeks contributions from private foundations and organizations to fund? lead hazard control work in homes throughout Maine. Additionally they are establishing a? housing co-op that will provide donated supplies and volunteers to augment the remediation? work done by families who have minimal resources but would like to do the work themselves.? The MCLPPP has the capacity, the understanding of state needs and the strategic? partnerships to reach the state's elimination goal by 2010. With continued funding from the? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state of Maine could be one of the first states to? virtually eradicate childhood lead poisoning.
