A new analysis shows the lead poisoning level for children in Wisconsin is lower than in recent years, but is nearly as high as Flint, Michigan, where lead contamination caused a drinking water crisis.
The analysis released this week by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families includes data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services that shows 4.6 percent of children under the age of 6 who were tested in 2015 had lead poisoning. The rate in Flint was 4.9 percent.
Leland Pan, the analysis' author and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the state's rate of lead poisoning among children is a serious issue because it can negatively affect a child's development.
