SECTIONS 124125-124165 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 124125-124165

124125. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that childhood
lead exposure represents the most significant childhood environmental
health problem in the state today; that too little is known about
the prevalence, long-term health care costs, severity, and location
of these problems in California; that it is well known that the
environment is widely contaminated with lead; that excessive lead
exposure causes acute and chronic damage to a child's renal system,
red blood cells, and developing brain and nervous system; that at
least one in every 25 children in the nation has an elevated blood
lead level; and that the cost to society of neglecting this problem
may be enormous.
The Legislature further finds and declares that knowledge about
where and to what extent harmful childhood lead exposures are
occurring in the state could lead to the prevention of these
exposures, and to the betterment of the health of California's future
citizens. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
this article to establish a state Childhood Lead Poisoning
Prevention Program within the department to accomplish all of the
following:
(a) To compile information concerning the prevalence, causes, and
geographic occurrence of high childhood blood lead levels.
(b) To identify and target areas of the state where childhood lead
exposures are especially significant.
(c) To analyze information collected pursuant to this article and,
where indicated, design and implement a program of medical followup
and environmental abatement and followup that will reduce the
incidence of excessive childhood lead exposures in California.

124130. (a) A laboratory that performs a blood lead analysis on a
specimen of human blood drawn in California shall report the
information specified in this section to the department for each
analysis on every person tested.
(b) The analyzing laboratory shall report all of the following:
(1) The test results in micrograms of lead per deciliter.
(2) The name of the person tested.
(3) The person's birth date if the analyzing laboratory has that
information, or if not, the person's age.
(4) The person's address if the analyzing laboratory has that
information, or if not, a telephone number by which the person may be
contacted.
(5) The name, address, and telephone number of the health care
provider that ordered the analysis.
(6) The name, address, and telephone number of the analyzing
laboratory.
(7) The accession number of the specimen.
(8) The date the analysis was performed.
(c) The analyzing laboratory shall report all of the following
information that it possesses:
(1) The person's gender.
(2) The name, address, and telephone number of the person's
employer, if any.
(3) The date the specimen was drawn.
(4) The source of the specimen, specified as venous, capillary,
arterial, cord blood, or other.
(d) The analyzing laboratory may report to the department other
information that directly relates to the blood lead analysis or to
the identity, location, medical management, or environmental
management of the person tested.
(e) If the result of the blood lead analysis is a blood lead level
equal to or greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of
blood, the report required by this section shall be submitted within
three working days of the analysis. If the result is less than 10
micrograms per deciliter, the report required by this section shall
be submitted within 30 calendar days.
(f) Commencing January 1, 2003, a report required by this section
shall be submitted by hand, courier, postal mail, facsimile, or
electronic transfer. Commencing January 1, 2005, a report required by
this section shall be submitted by electronic transfer.
(g) All information reported pursuant to this section shall be
confidential, as provided in Section 100330, except that the
department may share the information for the purpose of surveillance,
case management, investigation, environmental assessment,
environmental remediation, or abatement with the local health
department, environmental health agency authorized pursuant to
Section 101275, or building department. The local health department,
environmental health agency, or building department shall otherwise
maintain the confidentiality of the information in the manner
provided in Section 100330.
(h) The director may assess a fine up to five hundred dollars
($500) against any laboratory that knowingly fails to meet the
reporting requirements of this section.
(i) A laboratory shall not be fined or otherwise penalized for
failure to provide the patient's birth date, age, address, or
telephone number if the result of the blood lead analysis is a blood
lead level less than 25 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood,
and if all of the following circumstances exist:
(1) The test sample was sent to the laboratory by another medical
care provider.
(2) The laboratory requested the information from the medical care
provider who obtained the sample.
(3) The medical care provider that obtained the sample and sent it
to the laboratory failed to provide the patient's birth date, age,
address, or telephone number.

124150. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
activities conducted by the department pursuant to Section 124130
have confirmed and supported the findings specified in Section 124125
and, in addition, have resulted in the following findings:
(a) Very few children are currently tested for elevated blood lead
levels in California. The lead registry established pursuant to
Section 124130 has been effective at identifying incidents of
occupational lead poisoning; however, because childhood lead
screening is not now required in California, the registry is unable
to serve as the exclusive mechanism to identify children with
elevated blood lead levels. Additional blood lead screening needs to
be done to identify children at high risk of lead poisoning.
(b) Based on emerging information about the severe deleterious
effects of low levels of lead on children's health, the lead danger
level is expected to be lowered from 25 to 15 micrograms of lead per
deciliter of human blood.
(c) Lead poisoning poses a serious health threat for significant
numbers of California children. Based on lead registry reports and
targeted screening results, the department has estimated that tens of
thousands of California children may be suffering from blood lead
levels greater than the danger level.
(d) The implications of lead exposure to children and pregnant
women from lead brought home on the clothing of workers is unknown,
but may be significant.
(e) Levels of lead found in soil and paint around and on housing
constitute a health hazard to children living in the housing. No
regulations currently exist to limit allowable levels of lead in
paint surfaces in California housing.

124155. (a) The department shall design and implement a screening
program for lead exposure of children not older than seven years old
in migrant labor camps where lead-based paint has been identified
pursuant to Section 50710.5.
(b) The department may implement the screening program through the
local health departments utilizing the department's protocols.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may
contract with a nonprofit organization to assist in administration of
the program. The contract shall not be subject to competitive
bidding requirements.

124160. The department shall continue to direct the Childhood Lead
Poisoning Prevention Program to implement a program to identify and
conduct medical followup of high-risk children, and to establish
procedures for environmental abatement and followup designed to
reduce the incidence of excessive childhood lead exposures in
California. In implementing this program, the department shall
utilize its own studies, as well as relevant information from the
scientific literature and childhood lead poisoning programs from
outside California. The particular activities specified in this
section shall be initiated by January 1, 1990, and completed on or
before January 1, 1993. The program shall include at least all of the
following components:
(a) Lead screening. The department shall:
(1) Design and implement at least one pilot blood lead screening
project targeting children at high risk of elevated blood lead
levels. In designing any pilot projects, the department shall give
special consideration to conducting screening through the Child
Health Disability and Prevention Program.
(2) Conduct a pilot screening project to evaluate blood lead
levels among children of workers exposed to lead in their
occupations.
(3) Develop and issue health advisories urging health care
providers to conduct routine annual screening of high-risk children
between the ages of one and five years of age.
(4) Develop a program to assist local health departments in
identifying and following up cases of elevated blood lead levels.
(5) Develop and conduct programs to educate health care providers
regarding the magnitude and severity of, and the necessary responses
to, the childhood lead poisoning problem in California.
(b) The department, in consultation with the Department of Housing
and Community Development, shall adopt regulations governing the
abatement of lead paint in and on housing, including, but not limited
to, standards for enforcement, testing, abatement, and disposal.
(c) The department shall conduct a study to evaluate whether
abatement of lead in soil is effective at reducing blood lead levels
in children.

124165. After January 1, 1993, the department, through the
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, shall continue to take
steps that it determines are necessary to reduce the incidence of
excessive childhood lead exposure in California.