Lead poisoning in children younger than 6 can affect their mental and physical development. In some cases, it can even be fatal.
One of the most common sources is lead-based paint and lead contaminated dust.
Ryan Janson is the lead safe program coordinator with the Peoria City/County Health Department.
“That's kind of the big issue with the lead is it creates that dust,” he said. “And kids are kind of on the ground, and they're playing with their toys. They put their fingers on their mouth, like putting that lead dust in their system.”
A $6 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be used to continue the health department's Lead Safe Program that provides inspections and lead removal for Peoria homes built prior to 1978, when the federal ban on lead paint went into effect.
Carrie Panier, director of environmental health at the department, said the agency used the last round of federal funding on 201 homes. This round will allow them to work on 240 additional homes.
“A lot of our projects that have been completed are the result of inspections that we have from referrals for our elevated blood level cases, where the children have elevated blood lead levels and so that is triggered for an inspection to be done,” she said.
Panier said these cases often get moved to the top of their list because of the risk to the child.
One in 20 children in Peoria County have a high lead blood level. That's about 5%, compared to the national average of 2.5%. The highest rates are found in the 61603 ZIP Code
Residents do need to meet other criteria to qualify for the program, including having current homeowners insurance, paid property taxes and income eligibility. If the building is rented, the department requires a 20% landlord match contribution most of the time.
Janson said they're often not actually removing the lead paint.
“Lead paint is not a hazard if it's not deteriorating,” he said. “So we go in and we find all those deteriorated surfaces, and then we determine, all right, here's what we need to do. Like windows, typically, we're going to replace. Doors we're going to replace if those friction points, those are the common areas where we're creating lead dust.”
Even then, mitigation costs on average $18,000 per house. That's because the department uses lead abatement contractors licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“They typically go through a certain procedure that they've gone through in their training, that they lay down plastic,” Janson said. “They're sealing that plastic to the wall where they're working, so that any lead dust that's created as they're removing, let's say they're removing a window, any lead dust that's created when they're doing that is captured by the plastic.”
Contractors clean homes before and after working to ensure any lead dust has been removed. The grant also includes about $750,000 in supplemental funding for other safety concerns in a home.
“If they're front door, something like back door, if they're not in good shape, the locks aren't working,” Janson said. “We can replace doors for intruder protection. We can replace windows that are broken, even if they're not like lead. We can do it just because of keeping the cold out and stuff like that.”
The department also will replace or add smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Panier said they just don't know how many homes in Peoria need lead abatement services.
“Sadly, I mean, we do have a large housing stock of homes that are pre-1978 and even a lot that are maybe pre-1940 that are consistently seen with children with lead poisoning,” she said. “They're older. They likely do contain the lead paint if they have the older windows and they haven't been replaced.”
Panier said they anticipate the rate of lead poisoning cases in Peoria county will increase in 2025 because the trigger level will be lowered. She said all residents of pre-1978 homes should add themselves to the wait list.
“This HUD grant, it only benefits them, especially if it's an owner-occupied because lead renovations, especially doing it correctly, using a licensed contractor, can be very expensive, so it helps them make their homes safer for their family,” she said.
The health department also offers free lead screening for children up to age 6.
