National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

October 23–29, 2022
Each year, National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW) is a call to bring together individuals, organizations, industry, and state, tribal, and local governments to increase lead poisoning prevention awareness in an effort to reduce childhood exposure to lead. NLPPW highlights the many ways parents can reduce children’s exposure to lead in their environment and prevent its serious health effects. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our partners work to heighten awareness of lead poisoning, provide resources, and encourage preventive actions during NLPPW and beyond.
Watch Our Webinars
CDC and HRSA Partner for Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention: Guidance for Clinicians
Healthcare providers can play a key role in preventing lead poisoning by identifying children at risk for lead exposure, testing blood lead levels, and connecting families to any needed follow-up services. In partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), CDC subject matter experts provide up-to-date information about preventing exposure to lead, testing, and medical management of children with lead poisoning. Learn about the epidemiology of lead exposure as a public health problem and CDC’s recommended actions for blood lead testing and follow-up care.
All Children Can Be Exposed to Lead: CDC’s Efforts to Promote Awareness and Testing
Lead exposure is not limited to certain groups of children. Children can be exposed to lead from various sources in their environments—some more common than others. In this webinar, CDC subject matter experts discuss the many ways children can be exposed to lead and share tangible ways families can protect children from the harmful effects of lead exposure. Learn about CDC’s efforts and strategies to increase blood lead testing among children.
Watch Partner Webinars
EPA offers the following webinars in English with simultaneous Spanish interpretation:
- Understanding Lead: Learn about lead and actions we can take to reduce exposure.
- Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule Awareness: Learn about EPA’s RRP Rule.
- Lead Awareness Curriculum Train-the-Trainer: Learn how to use and modify the Lead Awareness Curriculum.
Additional Webinars
- Identifying Lead Service Lines in the Community: EPA staff discuss lead service line identification approaches for your community.
- Tackling Lead in Housing – HUD Moves Forward
- Life Without Lead Summit hosted by Lead Safe Alleghany
Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2022 Information Kit
The themes of this year’s National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW) were
- Get the Facts
- Get Your Home Tested
- Get Your Child Tested
The NLPPW Information Kit [PDF 8.6 MB] (en Español [PDF 8 MB]) aims to help individuals, organizations, and state and local governments to work together to reduce childhood exposure to lead. The Information Kit provides state and local governments and organizations with key materials and resources that are available for distribution to a wide array of audiences. The digital kit Includes:
- Basic Lead Poisoning Information
- Talking Points
- Steps to Create Localized Outreach
- Examples of Awareness Activities
- Digital Materials
- Social Media
- Other Resources
For more information including downloadable/customizable materials such as posters, flyers, images, etc., please visit these partner websites:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (en Español)
In 2022 CDC, EPA, and HUD posted social media messages corresponding to the following questions, which were designed to spark conversation on ways we can reduce and prevent lead exposure. Below each question are a few suggestions on information and topics to share and discuss if you decide to develop your own content. There is also “ready to post” content for each question in the table at the end.
Outreach for 2022 NLPPW through Social Media
EPA, CDC and HUD posted social media messages corresponding to daily questions for conversation during NLPPW and, starting in September, posted social media messages corresponding to the question, “How Can We Reduce Lead Exposure Together?”
- September 2022: How Can We Reduce Lead Exposure Together?
- Monday, October 24, 2022: Why Should I Be Concerned About Lead?
- Tuesday, October 25, 2022: How Do I Know if There is Lead in My Home?
- Wednesday, October 26, 2022: How Do I Know if There is Lead in My Drinking Water?
- Thursday, October 27, 2022: How Do I Know if My Child Has Been Exposed to Lead?
- Friday, October 28, 2022: How Can I Make Sure My Child Has Safe Crawls?
For 2022 NLPPW, you could retweet or share messages sent from the EPA, CDC and HUD social media accounts, and/or use the Sample Social Media Package [PDF – 2.2 MB] (en Español [PDF 1.5 MB]) to write your own posts using the content ideas or adapt the sample posts for your social media account(s).
Sample Social Media Posts for 2022 National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
You can actively participate with HUD, EPA, and CDC to spread the word about National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week by sharing messaging on social media using the hashtags #leadfreekids and #NLPPW2022 and when appropriate #EJ or #EnvironmentalJustice. Also, tag CDC, EPA and/or HUD to help mobilize individuals and communities to take action to reduce the risk of lead exposure in their environments. Interested in learning more about Lead from EPA, HUD, and CDC?
Fact Sheets
- 5 Things You Can Do – information on how to help lower elevated blood lead levels, in English [PDF – 234 KB] and en Español [PDF – 166 KB]
- All Children Can Be Exposed to Lead – real-world examples of situations where children have been exposed to lead. (Printable PDF [PDF – 1 MB])
- Are You Pregnant? – information on lead poisoning prevention for pregnant women, in English [PDF – 2 MB] and en Español [PDF – 2 MB]
- Blood Lead Levels in Children [PDF – 100 KB] – fact sheet with information on blood lead levels in children.
- How to Prevent Lead Poisoning in Children – common sources of lead and steps to reduce your child’s risk of lead exposure. (Printable PDFs in English [PDF – 1 MB] and en Español [PDF – 1 MB])
- Know the Facts – facts and information on lead poisoning prevention. (Printable PDFs in English [PDF – 977 KB] and en Español [PDF – 1 MB])
Videos
- Childhood Lead Exposure in the United States: CDC’s Role in Prevention, Education, and Surveillance – Subject matter experts from CDC discuss sources of lead in children’s environments, populations at higher risk, current trends among children in the U.S., prevention strategies, and current initiatives at CDC.
- Lead-Based Paint PSA – EPA video about safely renovating when there is lead-based paint in your home.
- Lead Exposure – causes, symptoms, and prevention of childhood lead poisoning, in English and en Español.
- Mission Unleaded: How to test children for lead with maximum accuracy – reducing the risk of contamination during blood collection for lead testing.
Policy Resources
- Health Department Strategies for Implementing Health in All Policies to Reduce and Prevent Lead Exposure: A factsheet outline the 7 strategies of Health and all Polices featuring lead poisoning prevention examples at state and local level, available at: fact_sheet_health-department-strategies-for-implementing-hiap-to-reduce-and-prevent-lead-exposure.pdf (nchh.org) [PDF – 987 KB]
- Stories from the Field Case Studies of Lead and Health in All Policies: A collection of case studies from three communities who used Health in All Policies to advance their lead poisoning prevention work, available at: https://nchh.org/who-we-are/nchh-publications/case-studies/stories-from-the-field-case-studies_hiap/
- Implementing a Health in All Polices Approach to Lead Poisoning Prevention: A report summarizing key themes of Health in All Policies (HiAP) strategies to address lead poisoning prevention at the state level, available at: https://astho.org/generickey/GenericKeyDetails.aspx?contentid=23734&folderid=5156&catid=7203
- Sustainability of Funding Toolkit for Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs: Overview of sources of funding and revenue streams available to state childhood lead poisoning prevention programs and strategies for sustainability planning, available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/docs/sustainability-funding-toolkit-508.pdf [PDF – 1 MB].
Additional Resources
Prevent Children’s Exposure to Lead – CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health’s (NCEH) Environmental Health Feature.
Get Ready for National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week! – EPA’s blog for NLPPW.