Blood Lead

Lead is one of the top environmental diseases affecting children in the U.S. Lead is known to cause learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. In 1978 the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based paint from homes and lead was phased out of gasoline from 1973 to 1986. Even with these improvements, there are over 400,000 children (under the age of six) with dangerous lead levels. (CDC - Surveillance for Elevated Blood Lead Levels Among Children - United States, 1997 to 2001. MMWR. September 12, 2003; 52(SS-10):1-21.) The most common exposure for children today is lead paint from older homes.

Blood Lead Screening Forms & Supply Requests

Blood lead screening forms can be ordered by mailing or faxing a completed order form to the Kansas Department of Health and Environmental Laboratories' Customer Service department.

Please read the instructions on how to complete the Blood Lead Screening Form.

Change Authorization Request Form (PDF)

Please use the Change Authorization Request Form for all re-issued reports, demographic corrections, test additions, or other laboratory report modifications. The form must be signed, dated, and faxed to the Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL) before any final changes will be made on all preliminary or final laboratory reports.

Laboratory Report Delivery Form (PDF)

Please use the Laboratory Report Delivery Form to change submitting health care facility preference for laboratory report delivery. The form must be signed, dated, and faxed to the Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL) before any changes will be made to the current laboratory report delivery method.

Facts About Childhood Lead Poisoning in Kansas

Housing / Number of Children	Kansas	U.S. Totals
Number of pre-1950 Housing	320,648	25,815,821
Percent of pre-1950 Housing	28.3	22.3
Number of renter occupied pre-1950 Housing	78,212	8,717,104
Percent of renter occupied pre-1950 Housing	24.4	33.8
Number of children less than 72 months	227,151	23,485,435
Number of children less than 72 months below poverty level	32,253	4,101,689
Number of children tested in 2006	27,521	3,262,866
Number of children with confirmed Blood Lead Levels above 10 mg/dL in 2006	312	39,52

Information from the CDC website (2006 Data)

The CDC recommends that a blood lead test be performed on all children at ages 1 and 2 years and on children age 36 to 72 months who have not been screened previously. Blood lead is the most common test in screening and diagnosing lead exposure. The Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories analyze over 14,000 blood lead specimens every year. Most specimens come from children under the age of six, but some blood lead tests are performed on expectant mothers and adults. The laboratory accepts three types of specimens for blood lead analysis: venipuncture, capillary finger stick collected in a microtainer, and dried blood spots from a finger stick collected on filter paper. Blood lead analysis is performed on an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The laboratory accepts two types of specimens for blood lead analysis: venipuncture and capillary finger stick collected in a microtainer. The Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories will no longer accept dried blood spots collected on filter paper for Blood Lead testing as of May 1, 2019