Pa. officials debate mandatory lead poisoning blood tests for children
Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled an initiative to create a lead-free Pennsylvania through increased access to blood testing for children, among other measures.
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania officials are hoping to lower the risk of lead poisoning through mandated blood testing for children and other measures.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is backing legislation to require testing that meets federal guidelines, and is rolling out other strategies to address the problem.
The administration is working on ways for regional response teams to care for children with dangerous amounts of lead in their system.
There are also proposals to train more people in remediating lead and to provide more resources online about lead poisoning, testing and remediation.
Officials say about three in 10 children in the state have been tested for lead exposure, and just under 5 percent of them had elevated lead levels.