KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo does have children with high levels of lead in their blood, but the health director of Kalamazoo County says they don’t know how many children are affected.
Gillian Stoltman said the county used to have a lead abatement program, but funding for it vanished during the Great Recession.
“We do not have a functioning lead-prevention program,” Stoltman said.
She said they know how the children are getting exposed to the toxic metal, it’s just a matter of political will and funding to end the problem.
“There is no excuse for any community, and particularly a community as rich as Kalamazoo, to have a single child who has elevated blood levels,” Stoltman said. “There is no reason at all.”
She said her office has already begun urging pediatricians to test more children for lead.
Currently only about one in five have been tested. They may be back with a funding request soon.
– John McNeill
