Free lead testing offered at Resource Fair for Clevelanders on Saturday

Clevelanders can receive free lead testing during an event on Saturday, while learning more about how pervasive lead poisoning is throughout the city. 

Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) is hosting a Lead Safe Resource Fair at the Midtown Tech Hive, 6815 Euclid Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. MetroHealth will be on hand to provide lead testing for children. Families that participate will receive a gift card for each child, under the age of 6, who is tested. A team from the University of Arizona will also provide free lead screening for soil samples brought by attendees. 

According to data from the city of Cleveland, hundreds of children in the city suffering from lead poisoning are identified annually. The issue is not merely one of aging infrastructure common across Rust Belt cities. Based on research, Cleveland and East Cleveland have significantly higher blood-lead levels among children versus similar cities like Akron, Toledo, Cincinnati and Columbus. In nearly every case, Cleveland’s rate of lead poisoning is two times higher than other cities, while East Cleveland’s levels are five times higher. 

Spencer Wells, co-founder of CLASH, said that even these numbers may be low. The explanation for that is simple. In Ohio, there are two tests performed to determine lead poisoning and lead blood levels: first, a capillary test and then a confirmatory test. Wells said there’s a notable dropoff between the number of people who receive capillary tests and those that then secure a confirmatory test. 

To try and close this gap, CLASH is hosting events like Saturday’s Lead Safe Resource Fair and working with partner agencies and the city to bring testing to public housing. 

“We’re still working to figure out where the gaps are and how to plug into them,” Wells told The Land. 

CLASH is also working with researchers from the University of Arizona to conduct sweeping research that utilizes boots-on-the-ground data alongside Ohio Department of Health blood-lead testing metrics. 

Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, professor and university distinguished scholar, will be part of the team on-site on Saturday from the University of Arizona. She’s worked on lead research throughout rural Arizona and within the urban confines of Greater Cleveland. 

Ramírez-Andreotta’s team is assembling an interactive map that will let Clevelanders see what current testing shows about lead levels in their neighborhoods. She’s also researching how best to reach people with this information, and how to make this research as useful and actionable as possible. 

“We want to democratize this research,” she told The Land. 

To that end, attendees will be able to utilize and offer comment on an interactive map created by the University of Arizona team. This map will eventually be made available widely but is still in testing. Guests who use it during the event will be among the first people to do so until the map is eventually made public. 

“This is the draft we’re showcasing for this event,” she said. “And then what we’ll do is analyze all the feedback we get and then modify this current version to make the next one.” 

Ramírez-Andreotta said there will also be a focus group for attendees, where they can offer feedback on how the data is being presented and used. 

Ultimately, the goal is to empower Clevelanders with more information on lead in their neighborhoods. 

“The goal of the data, of course, is to increase access and shed light,” she said. Wells agreed, noting that this research will also power CLASH and its partners to look at under-resourced areas. 

“We think that the data we’re getting from a lot of different sources maybe we can pinpoint where we need to put more energy into doing outreach,” he said. 

Anyone interested in attending the Lead Safe Resource Fair can learn more about the event online.