From the Boston Globe
CONCORD, N.H. --Gov. John Lynch signed a law Thursday that cuts in half the level of lead in a child's blood needed to trigger an investigation.
State Public Health Director Mary Ann Cooney estimates investigations will quadruple because of the drop in the threshold from 20 micrograms to 10 micrograms.
Reports at the 20 microgram level have been between 200 and 250 per year, but the numbers are much higher when children testing above 10 micrograms are included, Cooney said. She estimated the state will get 800 to 1,000 reports of poisoning once the new limit takes effect.
Cooney said state inspections triggered by the new limit will start Jan. 2, the day after the law takes effect.
New Hampshire doctors routinely test for lead in children up to age 3, Cooney said.
"It's as routine as getting an immunization," she said.
Older housing across the state is a prime source of lead poisoning, she said. Investigators will check the outside as well as inside to try to determine the source, she said.
Democratic Sen. Betsi DeVries, the law's prime sponsor, said it will go a long way toward preventing lead poisoning in children.
For more of this story, please visit: http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/07/12/nh_law_lowers_lead_blood_limit/
N.H. Law Lowers Lead Blood Limit
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By Norma Love
Associated Press, July 12, 2007
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