Sign up for testing via our online scheduler. Share your school contact person, as well as the number of children in first grade or younger. Our office will prepare forms in English and Spanish, based on the information you provide, and confirm your requested test date, or provide an alternative date if necessary.
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Even low levels of lead can affect a child’s ability to learn and thrive. Keep your family safe. Be aware of sources of this toxic metal in your home and take part in lead testing at your child’s school. Learn how to get tested for lead … and get help.
Ask About Testing
Here’s how a health care professional will administer your child’s test.
How lead poisoning can affect children:
Why We Test
Children in first grade or younger are most at risk for lead exposure. That’s why we test them.
Lead can be found in paint and dust in homes built before 1978, and Marion County’s older housing stock increases the risk of lead poisoning for children in our area.
Lead can cause learning and behavior problems, slow growth and development, and make it difficult for children to pay attention and learn. It can also cause headaches, nausea, and irritability. Serious cases can cause organ damage.
Yet most children with elevated lead exposure have no symptoms. A blood test is the only way to find out if they have lead in their blood.
If your child’s test reveals an elevated blood lead level, we’ll contact you right away and help you access resources and support. (Find more details in the Q&A section below.)
Lead exposure can affect nearly every system in the human body. It often occurs with no obvious symptoms.
Slowed brain development and damage resulting in reduced IQ, behavioral changes, reduced attention span, aggressive behavior and learning impairments
Anemia, high blood pressure
Damage and disease
Reduced sensitivity, hearing loss, fine and gross motor skills slowed or impaired
Infertility and pregnancy complications in adulthood
Muscle weakness and slowed bone development
Poor concentration, confusion, memory problems
Anemia, high blood pressure and heart disease
Damage and disease
Reduced sensitivity, hearing loss, fine and gross motor skills slowed or impaired
Infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth and low birth weight
Muscle and joint pain and weakened bones
A blood screening is the only way to accurately test children for lead poisoning. Marion County’s older housing stock puts the children in our area at risk for exposure to lead, which can be found in paint and dust in homes built before 1978. Lead can cause learning and behavior problems, slow growth and development, and make it difficult for children to pay attention and learn. Testing children for exposure to lead helps us protect and care for young people and help prevent future exposure.
Most children with elevated lead exposure have no symptoms. That’s why a blood lead test is so important. Even low levels of lead poisoning can cause developmental delays as well as learning and behavior problems. Higher levels of lead poisoning can cause headaches, stomachaches, and organ damage.
Lead poisoning is caused by swallowing or breathing lead. Lead exposure can also come from drinking water that runs through lead pipes.
In Marion County, lead testing is free to children in first grade or younger. With your permission, testing will be coordinated through your child’s school or child care center. Before your child is tested, you’ll receive a couple of forms to complete and sign and information about a test date. A lead test involves collecting a small amount of blood from your child’s finger through a skin prick.
On the morning of the test, please make sure your child has plenty of liquids and a good breakfast.
A screener from the Marion County Public Health Department will perform the testing while a school staff member is present. Our screeners are trained pediatric phlebotomists with an average of 11 years of experience testing children in school settings. Phlebotomists collect blood for testing so it can be analyzed in a clinical laboratory. We conduct lead screenings safely and in accordance with requirements for blood-borne pathogens.
Your child’s lead screening will take place in a room reserved for testing at the school that day. Forms including your child’s teacher’s name and classroom number will be ready. At least one member of the school staff will be present along with the screener. Here’s a step-by-step overview of the process:
First, your child will wash his or her hands.
Next, the screener will:
There may still be time to have your child tested. Contact your child’s school and return the forms before the school’s scheduled testing day.
According to Indiana law,* the laboratory that analyzes the blood reports sends the test results and all demographic information to the Indiana State Department of Health. If the screening indicates that your child’s blood level is elevated, a representative from the Marion County Lead Poison Prevention Program will contact you directly to schedule a confirmatory test.
For the confirmatory test, a blood sample will be taken from a vein in your child’s arm to confirm the lead level. Children with elevated lead levels can receive assistance from the Marion County Public Health Department. For more information, call the Marion County Public Health Department Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at 317-221-2155.
* Code 16-41-39.4-3
If an elevated level of lead is confirmed, the Marion County Public Health Department will provide an assessment, which includes a visit to your home to identify possible sources of lead in the environment. We’ll also examine your child’s history and note behaviors that may increase lead exposure and absorption. You’ll receive support, which includes nutrition and developmental screening and education and guidance on reducing lead exposure. We’ll provide referrals for nutritional and developmental interventions, and we’ll monitor your child’s blood lead levels to ensure the level is decreasing.
Read this flier, download the Mission Unleaded app and visit the Resources page of this website.
Mission Unleaded app on iTunes and Google Play.
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
3901 Meadows Drive Indianapolis, IN 46205
317 / 221-2155 | FAX 317 / 221-2296
leadct@marionhealth.org
