| ■ FDA Approves Fast Test for Lead Poisoning | 06.09.21 |
| A new machine that can test children and adults for lead poisoning in minutes was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday, but funding problems may slow its distribution. Acting FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach said that the testing device -- about the size of a laptop computer -- could be used in as many as 115,000 locations nationwide, including health clinics, schools, mobile labs and workplaces. "Before today, [testing] was only available in certain settings, like hospitals," he said, adding that devices eliminate the need to send a blood sample to a lab and wait several days for results. The government has set a goal of eradicating childhood lead poisoning by 2010, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday, but it has not offered financial aid to speed adoption of the technology. The new machines costs about $2,200 each and are considered key to combating the problem because they enables medical personnel to offer immediate guidance to parents on how to help their children. Lead poisoning is most commonly caused by children's ingestion of dust or other residue from lead-based paints. Lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978, but about 40 precent of the nation's housing still contains some. Medicaid pays for lead tests for low-income families, and federal guidelines call for testing all Medicaid recipients at ages 1 and 2, the Times reported, but fewer than 25 percent of such children are actually tested. YahooHealth |