IPAL: Iowa Parents Against Lead Poisoning

Iowa is the ONLY state west of the Mississippi River in the top 10 states with the most homes built before 1950.

Iowa is rated # 5. with 483,848 units : 42.2% of our homes.

The national average is 26.9%  Iowa is rated # 3 for homes built before 1940.

Birth Cohort of 1997 in Iowa,

Only 48% of this group had been tested for elevated blood lead levels. 9.4% had at least one elevated blood lead level. 5,011 children. National average is 4.4%.

Had every child in this cohort been tested, the predicted number of children poisoned would have been 12,040 of Iowa's children.

Presently

Statewide, the prevalence of lead poisoning among children under the age of six years is 12.3 percent.  This is nearly three times the national average of 4.4 percent.

Statistics courtesy of the Black Hawk County Health Department & The Iowa Departement Of Public Health