CDC - Tracking Success Stories - CDC 24/7 - Saving Lives - Maine

CDC 24/7 - Saving Lives - Maine's Success

Preventing childhood lead poisoning

What is the problem?

The number of newly identified cases of childhood lead poisoning in Maine has decreased steadily over the last five years. But lead poisoning continues to threaten children's health and development. To continue reducing the number of cases of lead poisoning, the Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program needed to understand more about the state's at risk children.

What did Tracking do?

The Maine Tracking Program used geo-coding and mapping to analyze childhood lead poisoning data. This fresh look at an old problem shed light on some previously unknown critical risk factors. For example, the new analysis revealed that 40% of all childhood lead poisonings occur in just five urban areas. Further probing showed that within those five urban areas, more than 80% of lead-poisoned children lived in rental housing. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau then allowed the tracking program to look by census blocks at the percentage of houses built before 1950. This revealed streets and whole neighborhoods where children were most at risk.

Improved public health

The Maine Tracking Program gave the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program an advanced understanding of lead poisoning distribution throughout the state. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention could now shift resources where they were most needed. Community groups in the five urban areas where 40% of childhood lead poisonings occur could now receive contracts from the Maine CDC for targeted prevention activities in their communities. The contracts help to educate local landlords and tenants about the dangers of lead paint dust and help landlords test their units for lead dust. After just one year of targeted outreach, about 240 rental units were tested for lead dust. Landlords whose units tested high for lead dust were given support or were enrolled in the Lead Hazard Control Program. The Maine Tracking Program has been critical in helping prevent lead poisoning in Maine children.
CDC - Tracking Success Stories - CDC 24/7 - Saving Lives - Maine

 

 

The Maine Tracking Network: Improving Public Health with Better Information

The goal of the Maine Tracking Network is to improve public health by making data on environmental hazards and health effects easier to find and use. 

These data can be used to help understand vulnerable Maine populations, target public health prevention efforts, and evaluate the success of these efforts. 

https://tracking.publichealth.maine.gov/ephtn/index.html