The federal government’s main program for preventing childhood lead poisoning remains inactive, even though Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed it is still funded and running.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed all 26 staffers from the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program on administrative leave in April. Their jobs are officially scheduled to end on June 2, as part of a broader restructuring effort within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
As of now, no staffers have been reinstated, said Erik Svendsen, director of the CDC’s Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, which housed the lead program.
“There are no other experts that do what we do,” Svendsen said. “You can’t just push a button and get new people because our areas of public health are so specialized.”
Kennedy’s Claims Disputed
Kennedy has been under fire from Democratic lawmakers for letting the program collapse. During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Kennedy told Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) that the program was still being funded. The week before, he told Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) that he had no plans to eliminate it.
However, CDC officials and scientists say otherwise. Two agency scientists said staff in the lead program have received no instructions for continuing or transferring their work.
Kennedy also claimed the CDC was helping Milwaukee respond to a local lead crisis. But Milwaukee’s health commissioner, Mike Totoraitis, said that isn’t true.
“Unfortunately, in this case, that is another example where the secretary doesn’t have his facts straight,” Totoraitis said.
According to Caroline Reinwald, a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Health Department, the only recent federal involvement was a two-week visit from a single CDC staff member. That visit, she added, was unrelated to the lead crisis in the city’s public schools and focused on general lab capacity improvements.
Program Played Key Role in Lead Safety
The now-defunct CDC program offered vital technical support to state and local health departments, especially those with fewer resources. Even low levels of lead exposure can cause serious developmental and behavioral issues in children.
In 2023, the program helped stop a national lead poisoning outbreak linked to contaminated cinnamon applesauce. Earlier this year, it was working closely with Milwaukee health officials after dangerous lead levels were found in public school buildings.
Milwaukee’s lead issues became public in February, when lead dust and flaking lead-based paint were discovered in classrooms and common areas across the city’s schools. The CDC had been meeting weekly with the Milwaukee Health Department to develop a plan to screen tens of thousands of students.
But on March 26, the city formally asked the CDC to send staff to help. On April 1, the CDC disbanded its childhood lead team. Two days later, it denied Milwaukee’s request for support.
“This is the first time in at least 75 years that the CDC has ever denied an Epi-Aid request,” said Totoraitis, referring to urgent CDC public health assistance.
City Left to Face Crisis Alone
Since the beginning of the year, Milwaukee has inspected 40 of more than 100 schools built before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paint for consumer use. Six schools closed due to lead hazards. Only two have reopened so far.
So far, just 350 students have been screened for lead poisoning out of about 44,000 identified as being at risk. One confirmed case of lead poisoning is tied directly to a school exposure. Two others are linked to both school and home exposure. The health department is investigating four more cases.
The city typically focuses on lead exposure in homes and rental units. But the CDC was supposed to help expand these efforts to public schools, large buildings, and new screening clinics. Now, the Milwaukee Health Department is handling these tasks alone.
Totoraitis estimates his team can manage 1,000 to 1,200 cases a year. That includes testing blood lead levels, providing treatment, and removing lead sources from homes.
He hopes to temporarily rehire two of the terminated CDC staffers to help fill knowledge gaps. Ideally, he said, “I keep hoping to get an email from them saying, ‘Hey, we got our jobs back.’”
