Information for Contra Costa Healthcare Providers
Medical providers: to report elevated blood lead levels for Contra Costa children or to get more information about lead poisoning, please call 925-608-5318.
Outline of Contra Costa Lead Poisoning Prevention Project (LPPP) Services for Children
What blood lead level (BLL) qualifies a child for services from our program?
We offer services to all Contra Costa children with blood lead levels of 4.5 mcg/dL or greater. The level of service is tiered by blood lead level. Services range from mailing educational materials to public health nurse (PHN) case management and environmental investigation.
- Below 4.5 mcg/dL
No specific case management response required. We do not follow these children, but if a provider or parent requests it, we will send materials. The overwhelming majority of children tested in Contra Costa have BLLs below 4.5 mcg/dL. - BLL 4.5 – 9.4 mcg/dL (venous or capillary)
In general, we monitor the BLLS and send printed educational materials to the family; we now have materials in many languages. For levels in the higher end of this range our community health worker (CHW) will attempt to make a phone visit. A CHW home visit may be scheduled if a higher risk situation is determined from the phone visit. - BLL 9.5 – 14.4 mcg/dL (venous or capillary)
Potential case
Services are as for those in the BLL 4.5 - 9.4 mcg/dL category, with follow-up priority being given to these children.
A child with a BLL in this range becomes a CASE (based on persistence) if he/she has a repeat venous blood lead level of 9.5 mcg/dL or greater at least 30 days after the initial BLL in this range and will receive case-level services (see below). If the initial blood test was capillary, the repeat test must be venous. - BLL 14.5 or greater (venous)
CASE
Children who meet the case definition are eligible for PHN case management services and an environmental investigation of the home for sources of lead in paint, dust, soil, water and other non-housing sources. We will follow the child until the BLL is below 4.5 mg/dL and other closure criteria are met.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Children who had a capillary test result of 4.5 mcg/dL or greater should be sent for repeat venous testing.
All subsequent tests should be venous.
Children who had a capillary test result of 4.5 mcg/dL or greater should be sent for repeat venous testing.
All subsequent tests should be venous.
How does the LPPP get blood lead test results?
- Our program receives blood lead test results from a State database, and also sometimes directly from testing labs or medical providers.
- We receive a bi-weekly State report that lists all new blood lead tests with results of 4.5 mcg/dL or greater.
- We also get a quarterly data disk from the State that includes all blood lead test results, even those below 4.5 mcg/dL.
- If a child has a blood lead test result at the case level, we get an immediate email alert from the State so that we can initiate case management services.
As a medical provider, you can call our program with referrals as you feel necessary at 925-608-5318.
Should a parent be worried or would like educational materials we will connect them to our Community Health Worker (CHW).
For English/Spanish Bilingual Inquiries please call 925-608-5241.
Resources
- Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch - CDPH
- Lead Poisoning management guidelines - CDPH
- Standards of Care Guidelines - CDPH
- Guidance for the Identification and Management of Lead Exposure in Pregnant and Lactating Women (CDC / 2010)
- Screening for Lead during the Domestic Medical Examination for Newly Arrived Refugees - CDC