County Council Approves Lead Testing Requirement For Children
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Allegheny County Council has approved legislation requiring all children to be tested for lead.
The measure passed by a 13-2 margin and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is expected to sign it into law.
Under the law, children between 9-12 months of age would be tested. Those children would be re-tested at two years of age. There would also be "catch up" testing for children who are ready start school, but have never been tested.
It would make blood lead level testing of high-risk kids more frequent and hold schools accountable.
Schools and administrators would have to let parents know about the blood lead level testing requirement and know what a child's level is before kindergarten.
There would be exemptions for medical, religious or moral reasons and there would not be any punishment for families that don't comply.
The new law is expected to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
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