Connecticut Childhood Lead Poisoning Surveillance Report

Incidence 2020

The incidence of lead poisoning cases (i.e., new cases of lead poisoning) is defined as the proportion of children under 6 years of age with a confirmed lead test result of ≥5 μg/dL, ≥15 μg/dL or ≥20 μg/dL respectively, for the first time in 2020 compared to all children under 6 years of age who were tested for lead in 2020 AND did not have a result of within the above-mentioned category prior to 2020. (For clarification, click on the "About the Data" button above.)
Distribution of Elevated Levels
Of the total 1024 cases with an elevated lead result of ≥ 5 µg/dL, 649 (63%) were new cases.
  • Of the 740 children who were found to have elevated blood lead levels 5-9 µg/dL in 2020, 448 (63%) were new cases.
  • Of the 164 children who were found to have elevated blood lead levels 10-14 µg/dL in 2020, 117 (71%) were new cases.
  • Of the 62 children who were found to have elevated blood lead levels 15-19 µg/dL in 2020, 42 (68%) were new cases.
  • Of the 58 children who were found to have blood lead levels ≥20 µg/dL in 2020, 42 (72%) were new cases.
• 1,024(17 per 1,000) children were tested with elevated blood lead levels ≥5 μg/dL, the CDC reference value. The prevalence rate (existing cases) did not significantly decrease from 2019 however it did statistically significantly decline from 2018 with a 23% reduction in the number of cases.


  • The overall 5 year relative risk reduction was 38%


Number of New Cases by Blood Lead Level Category
Of the 60,250 children with no history of an elevated lead result of ≥ 5 µg/dL, 649 (1.08%) were incident (new) cases.
Below, are the number of new cases identified among children under 6 years of age who had no history of an elevated blood lead result in that specific category. 
Incidence Numbers 
≥5 µg/dL = 649
 This is a 17% decrease in number of new cases from 2019, and a 22% decrease from 2018.
≥15 µg/dL = 84
 This is a 19% decrease in number of new cases from 2019, and a 28% decrease from 2018.
≥20 µg/dL = 42 
 This is a 24% decrease in number of new cases from 2019, and a 22% decrease from 2018.
Percent of New Cases by Blood Lead Level Category
Incidence Rates
  • ≥5 µg/dL = 1.08% 
  • ≥15 µg/dL = 0.14% prevalence 
  • ≥20 µg/dL = 0.07% prevalence
The incidence rate of blood lead tests ≥5 μg/dL did not significantly decrease from 2019 or 2018 however it did statistically significantly decline from 1.4% in 2017 to 1.08% 2020. 

Town Data Table by Blood Lead Level

Maps

Below, are the number of new cases identified among children under 6 years of age who had no history of an elevated blood lead result in that specific category.  Clicking on each link will open a map of CT towns with the number and percent of incident cases within that town.  Each map also has a "Get the data" link in the bottom left hand corner which provides all the data for that elevated lead level category by town and year.
All data is based on confirmed screens and those who had never had an elevated lead level of  ≥5 μg/dL, ≥15 μg/dL or ≥20 μg/dL .  Statistics for towns with less than 50 children tested were suppressed if there was any child with an elevated blood lead level. Suppressed values were expressed as "null" in linked data tables and towns greyed out on maps.  For more information, see About the Data.