More than 1,000 children tested positive for lead poisoning in New Hampshire in 2023, according to a recently published report from state officials.

That’s the highest number of kids with dangerous levels of lead in their blood the state has seen since routine testing began in 2018.

Children ages one and two are required to be tested for lead during annual doctor’s visits. About 69% of one-year-olds and 76% of two-year-olds were tested in 2023.

Children with elevated levels of lead in their blood may face damage to their brains and nervous systems, along with challenges with learning, hearing and speaking, and growing, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

New Hampshire’s data show one in every 10 children insured by Medicaid tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood – more than twice the rate for other kids. Children covered by Medicaid also had lower testing rates than others.

Lead paint and dust in older homes is responsible for about 70% of lead exposure for children in the United States, with other exposures coming from consumer products and drinking water.

“Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. We know what the problem is, and we know what the solutions are. This is not complicated. All we need to do as a state is implement some of the solutions,” said Heidi Trimarco, a staff attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation.

Trimarco said she was alarmed by the report and she’s hoping it spurs state leaders to take action.

“This is about protecting our most vulnerable population. We need to protect our little kids, our babies, from being poisoned,” she said.

Trimarco is supporting a bill in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives this session that would take some preventative actions, including directing state health officials to inspect neighboring apartments when one unit in a multi-family building has a lead hazard.

The bill would also lower the level of lead in a child’s blood that prompts action from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5, introduce new permit requirements for renovation and repair in older buildings, and create a legal presumption that any home built before 1978, when lead paint was banned in residences, contains lead hazards.

More than half of New Hampshire’s homes were built before 1980. State officials estimate more than 32,000 children live in homes that have lead paint hazards.

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.