Lead poisoning is a problem that’s been impacting families across New York state for decades. New York State Department of Health data shows nearly 98,000 kids below the age of 3 were tested for lead poisoning across the state, excluding New York City. Of that 98,000, more than 2,000 had elevated lead levels in their blood, and 820 had even higher levels.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says even low levels of lead in blood can have negative health effects, such as learning and behavior problems, slowed growth and development and brain and nervous system damage.
Communities across the state have been working to combat the issue without uprooting the lives of New Yorkers, including in Onondaga County, which is constructing a new lead safe house.
Syracuse is no stranger to lead poisoning. Like many across the Empire State, it’s an old city — and that means it has old homes and old infrastructure.
“We have an old housing stock,” Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said. “And really anything before 1978 that was built likely has some form of lead based paint in it.”
According to the Greater Syracuse Lead Poisoning Prevention Action Plan, more than 90% of the houses in Syracuse were built before 1978 — the year that lead paint was banned.
Today’s leaders say many families in the region are susceptible to lead poisoning from items they use and touch every day.
“It’s old windows, old doors,” McMahon said, “Old lead paint that hasn’t been fixed up.”
LeadSafeCNY reports Central New York has some of the highest levels of childhood lead poisoning in the state. Incredibly, 9% of children tested for lead poisoning in 2023 showed elevated levels of lead in their blood. Nonprofits, community organizations and public officials are working hard to combat this crisis.
“What happens when you find a child who has an elevated blood lead level? What happens when we are we find somebody that we know that needs lead work done in the house in the construction?” McMahon asked. “We need a place for those folks to go.”
That’s why a lead “safe house” is coming to Syracuse.
The four-unit property on the area’s southside will allow four different families to stay in the house while work is being done to remove lead hazards from their homes. The county has already invested millions of dollars in limiting those hazards in thousands of other households, and McMahon hopes the latest efforts will pay off in the years to come.
“We need to continue the testing approach to figure out what kind of improvement we’re making, how much further do we need to go, and then that drives funding for future years,” McMahon said.
Syracuse is also currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar lead pipe replacement project to bring lead levels down in the city’s drinking water. That, however, will only solve a fraction of the larger problem.