Preventing Childhood Lead Poisoning Webinar & Resources
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) partnered with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and the Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP) to offer Lead-Free Ohio training.
- Ohio law requires blood lead testing at 12 and 24 months of age for children insured by Medicaid or who live in a high-risk ZIP code
- Only 50% of children meeting these criteria are being tested currently
- There are state and local resources to support families with children who have lead poisoning
- Iron insufficiency increases children’s risk for lead poisoning.
Identify, Improve, Educate: Addressing Lead Exposure Risks in Primary Care
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Learning Objectives:
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CME Accreditation
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has reviewed the program Identify, Improve, Educate: Addressing Lead Exposure Risks in Primary Care and deemed it acceptable for up to 1 Enduring Materials, Self-Study AAFP Prescribed credit. Term of approval is from February 1, 2024, to Monday, March 31, 2025. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association (AMA) as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s)™ toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA). When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.
To receive CME credit after completing the webinar, please complete the evaluation linked above, report your credit to the AAFP, and print the CME certificate linked above for your records.
Questions
Please contact Director of Education Erin Jech with questions.
About Lead
Lead is a metal that occurs naturally in the environment. Although lead can be found in small amounts in the earth’s crust, most of it comes from human activities such as manufacturing and mining. In the past, lead was used in gasoline, paint, metals, bullets, and batteries. We now know that lead has many hazardous health effects, and so lead has been banned or significantly reduced in these products.
Children can be exposed to lead in many ways, but most exposure happens when children put things into their mouths while playing. Lead was used in house paint until 1978, and any house built before that year could have lead paint. Chips from this paint can be ingested or ground into dust, which can be eaten or breathed in. Lead can also be found in soil, water, and certain items that come from other countries. Many children with lead poisoning have no signs at first, which makes it hard to diagnose and treat their poisoning early.
Even small amounts of lead can cause learning and behavior problems in children. Lead replaces iron and calcium and affects many parts of the body, especially the nervous system. Lead is most harmful to children under the age of six, because a child’s growing body takes up lead easily. Lead can also be dangerous to a baby during pregnancy.
Problems related to lead poisoning can last the child’s whole life. Even at low levels, lead can lower IQ, cause attention disorders, make it difficult for a child to pay attention in school, delay growth, impair hearing, and more.
Resources
- Childhood Lead Poisoning
- Healthy Homes
- Lead Abatement Tax Credit Program
- Lead Licensure and Accreditation
- Clinical Preventive Service Recommendation: Screening for Lead Levels
- FamilyDoctor.org
- Lead Poisoning in Children (American Family Physician, 2019)
- Screening for Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children and Pregnant Women: Recommendation Statement (American Family Physician, 2019)
- Family Rack Card: English | Spanish | Somali | French | Arabic | Nepali
- Physician Resource Guide
- Toolkit registration