School buses and traffic pass in front of Golda Meir Lower School, one of several MPS schools where lead hazards have been found. (NNS file photo by Julius Shieh)
By Julius Shieh
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
In Milwaukee, lead poisoning is one of the most serious health threats facing young children, according to the City of Milwaukee Health Department.
From 2018 to 2021, nearly 6.25% of children younger than 6 in Milwaukee County tested for lead were considered lead poisoned, with percentages of children poisoned in some Milwaukee neighborhoods nearing 25%, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Lead hazards in paint, water and soil are common throughout many of Milwaukee’s older homes and buildings, contributing to the widespread issue of lead poisoning. Here are some ways that you can identify and manage lead hazards.
Lead hazards in buildings
After lead poisoning cases were linked to an abundance of lead hazards in two Milwaukee Public Schools facilities, Sean Kane, senior director for Facilities and Maintenance Services at Milwaukee Public Schools, said that the district “assumes that there is lead in a building that’s been constructed before 1978.”
One reason why is because lead paint, identified as a leading cause of lead poisoning by the Health Department, was used often in homes and buildings before it was outlawed in 1978.
“You should always assume that a building has lead paint if it’s older than 1978,” said Michael Mannan, home environmental health director at the Health Department.
Lead also can be found in a building’s water – Milwaukee mandated the use of lead service lines in 1872 and outlawed the practice in 1962. A citywide lead service line replacement program seeks to replace an estimated 65,000 lead service lines. (You can check to see if your building has lead pipes here.)
But lead contamination in water can extend beyond the city’s water mains and service lines. Plumbing materials like pipes and faucets inside the building can still contain lead.
Before 1986, interior plumbing materials like pipes and faucets could be made entirely of lead, and plumbing materials made before 2014 may contain higher levels of lead.
Soil is another common source of lead contamination. Paint chips and dust from the exterior of homes built before 1978 can result in high lead levels in soil, and deposits from leaded gasoline and industrial activity also can contaminate soil.
What can you do?
“Make sure that your child gets screened for lead,” Mannan said.
The Health Department recommends testing all children for lead poisoning at the ages of 12,18 and 24 months, and then once every year until the age of 6.
More information about lead poisoning and free testing resources are available here. https://milwaukeenns.org/2025/01/21/lead-poisoning-is-a-serious-health-threat-here-are-5-things-you-need-to-know/
The Health Department Lead-Safe Registry also lists properties that have been inspected and verified to be lead safe. However, at the time of this story, only 18 properties in the city have participated in the registry program.
Milwaukee’s land management system also lists important information about a property, such as past lead orders or permits that would indicate that lead abatement has been completed.
But this only provides information for one point in time, Mannan said. Even if a home has undergone lead abatement in the past, new renovations and construction or further deterioration may introduce lead hazards.
Property owners also are required to disclose any past lead abatement to a tenant at the time of lease. A lead disclosure is also required to be provided to tenants at any building built before 1978.
“If you’re not receiving those documents, that should be a concern,” Mannan said.
Lead-safe practices
It is also important to maintain lead-safe practices, especially if you live in a building built before 1978.
The first step, Mannan said, is to check for flaking or chipping paint, especially around high-movement areas such as windowsills, which can cause toxic lead dust to gather. Areas with deteriorated paint can be a risk and will require professional remediation and repair efforts, such as repainting or sealing an area.
If you see any serious paint hazards, there are a few interim controls you can make to an area before completing more permanent repairs. Before cleaning lead dust, make sure that children are not present.
Mannan recommends using wet cleaning methods, like wiping or mopping, to clean off lead dust, and to make sure to dispose of a mophead or paper towel after wiping an area clean. A HEPA vacuum, which has additional filtration over a typical vacuum, also can be used to clean up lead dust. Free HEPA vacuum rentals from the Health Department are available to property owners during cleaning or renovation projects.
Covering a paint hazard with tape can help in especially deteriorated areas, but removing the tape afterward can cause more damage to the paint.
While these practices are helpful, “these are just intermediate controls until you can really rectify the paint hazard,” Mannan said.
It also is important to use cold filtered water for drinking and cooking. Using hot water from the tap can cause lead to dissolve more quickly, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Not all filters remove lead, however. Look for a point-of-use filter, such as a pitcher or faucet-mounted filter with the NSF/ANSI 42 and 53 designations for lead certification.
More information is available here. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-12/documents/consumer_tool_for_identifying_drinking_water_filters_certified_to_reduce_lead.pdf
In some situations, Milwaukee Water Works will provide a voucher for a free water filter at properties when a lead service line replacement is scheduled.
The Health Department also recommends maintaining other clean practices to help lower lead risks. These recommendations include washing hands regularly, washing children’s toys and removing shoes at the door to prevent tracking in soil with lead dust.