Lead poisoning rates among young children in Cleveland ticked down in the last two years, prompting hope among some local leaders that the efforts to make housing lead safe is finally getting results.
“It’s the increased attention to lead hazards that property owners are choosing to make,” said Dr. David Margolius, Cleveland’s director of public health. “It’s the new housing that’s going up. It’s all of it.”
Kids in Cleveland are typically poisoned after being exposed to lead paint in their homes and yards as opposed to water pipes. The metal can damage a child’s developing brain, leading to irreversible delays and behavioral issues. The city passed a law in 2019 requiring landlords who own homes built before 1978 to get the properties certified as lead-safe, which involves examining and testing a home for lead.
Since then, a group called the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition has raised millions of dollars to help landlords meet the new law’s requirements and to help homeowners stay safe. A local health nonprofit is piloting a $1 million effort to increase the number of Cleveland kids who get tested for lead poisoning. In the past year, the city has gotten stricter in how it certifies homes as safe.
Now, the rate of high blood lead levels is at a low of 15.8%. Cleveland tracks lead poisoning through blood tests on children under the age of six. The rate looks at how many kids who got tested have high lead levels.
The news is giving leaders “a boost of confidence that we are making progress in addressing this issue,” wrote Ayonna Blue Donald, an executive committee member of the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition.
The city’s low rate is still much higher than what other cities in the “lead belt” are dealing with, said Spencer Wells, a co-founder of the volunteer group Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing. He urged the city to press on in the fight against lead, which Margolius acknowledged is still very much a necessity.
“Things are trending in the right direction,” Wells said. “But … 15 percent is not a score that any other city would try to achieve. Way higher than any other city around.”
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 2.5% of children under six have elevated blood levels. That number includes all children — not just kids who get tested for lead poisoning, which Cleveland measures.
Dr. Matthew Tien, a MetroHealth pediatrician, added that the trend will become more meaningful if it’s sustained over a longer period of time. He said he’s hopeful that the numbers indicate the collaboration between local governments, health systems and advocacy groups is paying off.
What the lead poisoning numbers show
Between 2019 and 2023, the city’s lead poisoning rates fluctuated up and down by small amounts, never moving in consistently the same direction. Then, in 2024, the numbers dropped by one percentage point — and then by another one so far this year. That’s according to data from the city of Cleveland.
“The last few years of seeing the numbers not go down has been frustrating,” Margolius said. “… So I think it’s notable that the last two years have been a year-over-year improvement.”
A one percentage point drop per year is “a pretty great change,” said Dr. Tien.
The city’s hospitals are seeing a similar year-over-year drop in poisonings within their own data from shared electronic health records. Tien found that the percent of children in Cleveland who tested for high levels of lead fell to 12% this year. The data includes children seen at the city’s major hospitals — MetroHealth, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic — and some neighborhood health centers.
“I’m a little surprised it’s moving downwards as fast as it might be,” Tien said.
There are some caveats with the hospitals’ findings. Some children who live in cities near the Cleveland border may be incidentally included in the results because of difficulties with the dataset. And Tien only shared data going back to 2023 due to changes in what the federal government determined as ‘elevated’ lead levels.
Healthcare leaders hope to get more children tested for lead poisoning
The fight against lead poisoning is accompanied by a push to increase the number of children in Cleveland who are tested. Tien is leading a coalition of healthcare providers who hope to increase lead testing among children under two who attend well-child visits.
The group is working to make it easier for healthcare providers to test these children in their offices instead of sending them to a lab. Labs sometimes involve another appointment or even another location, making it a barrier for parents.
The group is trying to increase the share of children who get tested to 79% by June 2026, up from 69% earlier this summer.
“I’m optimistic that we’re going to get there,” Tien said. “…Moving the needle by 10 percent in a short project like this is a pretty gnarly goal, but we’re going to try to get as close as we can to that.”
Wells, with CLASH, said the focus on getting kids tested during well-child visits at doctors’ offices is misguided because many aren’t having those visits. Around a thousand kids didn’t use any of Cleveland’s local hospital systems or health centers registered with the shared electronic health record system between their first and second birthdays, Tien said.
Wells said this is why children should be tested outside of medical facilities, too.
“At school, in daycare centers, you know, wherever you find ’em, you should test them right away,” Wells said.
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition is hosting a 2025 lead walk Saturday to raise awareness and promote action to prevent lead exposure. The event is part of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
The event will begin at Roberto Clemente Park (3690 Seymour Ave) at 11 a.m. and end at CentroVilla25 (3140 W 25th) in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. Residents can also skip the walk and rally at CentroVilla for a celebration with free food and lead screening and testing.
All Cleveland residents are welcome to attend. More information can be found here.