Lead exposure disparities persist among young children in U.S.
Blood lead levels in young children in the U.S. are declining overall but remain higher among children belonging to racial minorities or low-income families, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Mary Jean Brown.
Brown, adjunct assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published June 11 in the American Journal of Public Health. Co-authors included experts from Project TENDR, a group of health professionals and environmental advocates working to protect children from toxic chemicals.
According to experts, young kids are uniquely vulnerable to lead exposure because they put their hands and objects in their mouth. Items may be contaminated with lead especially if found in a home or playground with lead-based paint. No level of lead in children’s blood is safe, and higher levels can result in long-term neurological damage.
To learn more about this threat to children’s health, the researchers analyzed nationwide blood lead level trends among children between 2011 and 2023, as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They also examined equivalent data from seven states—Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota—which included demographic information.
The researchers observed that the national data showed children’s blood lead levels on a downward trend. But these levels are not lowering evenly across all children, the state-level data revealed. Children belonging to racial and ethnic minorities and/or of lower socioeconomic status were more likely to have high blood lead levels. The researchers found that these disparities weren’t just due to living in older, poorly maintained housing, but also to new sources of lead contamination in food, cosmetics, and cultural products such as spices, cookware, and traditional medicines.
“Lowering blood lead levels in children nationwide is one of public health’s great success stories, but the national data don’t tell the whole story,” Brown said. “At the local level, too many children still face higher exposures.”
The researchers offered several recommendations for policymakers and health care professionals to provide stronger safeguards against childhood lead exposure, including increasing blood lead level screenings of young children, especially those who belong to higher-risk groups, and educating families about lead and how to reduce their exposure.
They also emphasized the importance of restoring—and expanding—NHANES, which was shuttered by the federal government in October 2025. Reinstating this survey, and ensuring that it includes demographic data, will equip officials with the information they need to effectively address Americans’ exposure to toxic chemicals and pollutants, especially among those most at risk, the researchers said.
Read the study:
Eliminating Disparities in Children’s Lead Exposure: An Unfinished Job
Read a press release about the study:
Learn more:
Report outlines lead’s harms, costs—and how to stop the damage (Harvard Chan School news)
Childhood lead exposure leads to billions in productivity losses in low- and middle-income countries (Harvard Chan School news)
