Blood Lead Levels of Refugee Children in Rhode Island

Lead and its harmful effects on children have been known for over one hundred years. Yet exposure continues to be a public health concern within the U.S., specifically in the urban areas (Lidsky & Schneider, 2003). Blood lead levels (BLL) were found to be elevated in 11.3% of recent refugees children within the U.S. (Hebbar, Vanderslice, Simon, & Vallejo, 2010). Currently, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately half a million children between the ages of one to five years have a blood lead level above 5μ/deciliter (CDC, 2017). Lead is neurotoxic and young children are at a particularly high risk of exposure. Many studies indicate that adverse outcomes in intellectual functioning and social-behavioral conduct. It is not clear if long-term effects develop at concentrations below 10 μg per deciliter (Canfield et al., 2003). Minimal research done to evaluate the implementation of the CDC guidelines on blood level screening of refugee children that are newly arrived into the U.S. (Raymond et al., 2012). This project analyzed the health records of refugee children who settled in Rhode Island and were receiving care in the refugee clinic within a large academic medical center. Records were reviewed for adherence to Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines regarding BLL in refugee children