Overview
“Lead poisoning, the most common environmentally caused pediatric health problem, is entirely preventable” (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Specific rules and regulations have been established in North Carolina for childhood lead screening and environmental intervention. The goal of this workshop is to teach the basic skills necessary to become authorized in lead investigation and abatement and to carry out the state’s mandate to eliminate sources of childhood lead exposure.

When you suspect that a child under six years of age is being exposed to lead hazards in a dwelling, school or daycare center, you must conduct an environmental lead investigation.
Many of you have raised program questions such as: Where do I fit into the lead investigation and abatement program as a local environmental health specialist? What are my duties and what am I authorized to do? How much help can I expect and from where?

When lead hazards are found, you must notify the parents and property owners of the lead hazards and notify the parents that they are required (by state laws) to have their children tested.
The North Carolina Environmental Health State of Practice Committee assembled state, regional and local environmental health specialists as experts to develop this unique and specialized training workshop. The Environmental Health Services Section of the Division of Environmental Health (NC DENR) has outlined the associated procedures to provide the skills and knowledge necessary for local environmental health specialists to complete authorization for lead investigation and abatement.

When testing reveals a child’s blood lead level to be equal to or greater than 20 micrograms per deciliter, you must require the property owner to abate the hazards identified.
A secondary goal of this workshop is to teach all members of the local lead investigation and abatement team (including specialists, nurses and others) how to safely conduct an investigation.
Authorization to enforce North Carolina lead laws and rules for environmental health specialists will consist of three segments:

• Attending and completing this specialized training workshop.
• Successfully passing the examination administered at the end of this workshop.
• Successfully completing a skills evaluation as conducted by a regional environmental health specialist in conjunction with an actual lead investigation.

Moving a child out of the premises is not an abatement.
Lead investigation: what does this mean for you?

• You must develop a local lead investigation team.
• You must have a relationship with your county attorney.
• If a house is abandoned, you must monitor that it remains unoccupied.
• There is a statewide policy for evaluating daycares, schools or situations where children are potentially exposed to lead.
• You must be aware of follow-up procedures.

At the completion of this workshop you will be able to:

• Identify and communicate to parents and other public clients the importance and seriousness of lead and lead hazards as a public health concern.
• List the key steps required for remedial action to protect children.
• Investigate lead hazards, correctly and safely, in a variety of environmental settings.
• Read and accurately interpret clinical reports and evaluate the results of environmental investigations.
• Establish a lead investigation team, by identifying key members and developing a team investigation protocol.

Additional objectives of this workshop are that you will be able to:

• Identify both behavioral factors and environmental factors for potential lead risks through interviews conducted with the client families.
• Successfully communicate the nature of lead hazards and methods of abatement with parents, caregivers, and property owners. This will include items such as nutritional needs, temporary protection, permanent abatement, medical follow-up, the possible exposure of other children to the lead hazard, and the notification of the property owner/manager and other parents.
• Identify the key elements required in the narrative lead report.
• Evaluate an abatement procedure plan for key implementation elements.

Audience
This program has been designed for North Carolina environmental health specialists, public health nurses and others who will be conducting environmental lead investigations in their county. Supervisors or administrators who have consulting and decision-making responsibilities for the local lead program will also benefit from attending this workshop. County participants who successfully complete the training and final examination may be eligible for training funds. These funds are available only by applying to the Branch Head of the Children’s Environmental Health Branch, NCDHHS

Workshop Sponsors
North Carolina Environmental Health State of Practice Committee
Children’s Environmental Health Branch, Environmental Health Section
Environmental Health Section of NC Public Health Association
Northwest Area Health Education Center