Lead exposure testing for children is now required in 16 ZIP codes in Kane County, according to a new list from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Having added 180 new ZIP codes, the total number of high-risk ZIP codes in the state now sits at more than 1,350, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Public Health on July 1.

This update is part of a gradual effort to expand lead testing for children across the state, state health officials noted in the release.

By this time next year, the IDPH says, childhood lead testing will be required statewide.According to Illinois state law, children 6 years old or younger who live in an area deemed high-risk by the Illinois Department of Public Health must be assessed by a health care provider for lead poisoning. The press release from the department notes that testing for children in those ZIP codes is to be done automatically at 1 year and 2 years old.

A ZIP code is determined to be high-risk for lead exposure through an algorithm considering several different risk factors, according to the news release. According to state law, factors include the age and condition of housing in the area, its proximity to highway traffic or heavy local traffic, the percentage of housing that’s rental or vacant, proximity to industry that uses lead, the established incidence of elevated lead levels in children, the percentage of the area population below 200% of the federal poverty level and the number of children in the area that are 6 years old or younger.

In Kane County, the ZIP codes where lead testing is now required are: 60109, 60110, 60118, 60120, 60121, 60123, 60144, 60151, 60174, 60177, 60505, 60506, 60507, 60510, 60511 and 60542, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The full list of added ZIP codes can be found on the IDPH’s website.

According to the IDPH’s 2023 surveillance report, the intervention level for lead levels in Illinois is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, which is in alignment with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. In 2021, the CDC lowered the blood lead reference value from five to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, and the state updated its guidance as of January 2025, according to the IDPH.

Blood tests that come back with levels higher than that prompt a home inspection to determine the source of the lead, the news release noted. If lead is found, the inspector works with the homeowner to remove the sources of lead, and a public health nurse will educate the family on how to protect children from the effects of lead.

In 2023, 2.9% of slightly less than 9,000 children 6 or under tested in Kane County had lead levels of five micrograms per deciliter or higher, according to state data. That’s about the same as the statewide percentage for that year.

The Kane County Health Department is involved in both testing homes in the county for lead and case management for those exposed to it, Uche Onwuta, the department’s director of Health Protection, told The Beacon-News.

Typically, when a child has a blood lead level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or higher, the county health department is notified and contacts the family to determine potential sources of the exposure, Onwuta explained. Then, they have a lead inspector test the home — and come back to test the home as the house is treated until the source of lead is eliminated.

The county currently has only one lead inspector, Onwuta said, who does inspections all across the county, but they’re looking to hire a second one.

They also do case management, Onwuta said, referring families to resources to help handle lead exposure, and educational outreach at things like back-to-school events.

Onwuta said that the ZIP code additions were “not surprising,” given a high prevalence of older housing stock.

Lead is commonly found in surfaces covered with lead-based paint like windows and doors, particularly in older homes; in soil, which can be brought inside as dust on shoes, clothing and pets; in drinking water via lead pipes, faucets and plumbing fixtures; and in consumer products, foods and medicines, according to the IDPH. There is no safe level of lead in the blood, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Sameer Vohra said in the department’s news release on the expansion of lead testing.

In addition to working with families who have children who have tested positive for lead, the county health department recommends preventative measures like frequent handwashing, removing shoes when entering the house, providing nutritious meals, keeping floors clean and avoiding planting a vegetable garden in soil around older homes, a news release from the county about the expanded list of high-risk ZIP codes noted.

Michael Isaacson, the executive director of the Kane County Health Department, said in the release that lead exposure poses “serious risks to a child’s development and long-term health.” And he encouraged adherence to the state lead testing requirements across the county, not just in the ZIP codes considered high-risk.

Onwuta emphasized that more testing means a higher chance of identifying children who have already been exposed to lead.

“More ZIP codes means more buildings that are likely to have lead now being tested,” Onwuta said. “It’s not like they’re new buildings, but they are places that expose their children to lead, but we never really knew about it.”

For example, it may enable children with learning disabilities or health issues to be identified as having high blood lead levels, if that’s the case, Onwuta said.

“I think … there’s a benefit to this,” Onwuta said, “because those children are living in those ZIP codes that could possibly have all those effects of lead, that were probably fashioned as something else.”

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com