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CBS News: CDC denies help for lead poisoning in Milwaukee schools due to layoffs
CBS News - CDC denies help for lead poisoning in Milwaukee schools due to layoffs
By Alexander Tin
Edited By Sarah Lynch Baldwin
April 11, 2025 / 12:19 PM EDT / CBS News
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rejected a request from health officials in Milwaukee for help with a lead poisoning investigation, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated the agency's response team.
"I sincerely regret to inform you that due to the complete loss of our Lead Program, we will be unable to support you with this," Aaron Bernstein, director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told city officials April 3 in an email obtained by CBS News.
Officials in Milwaukee and Wisconsin's state health department had formally requested the CDC's help on March 26, after many of the city's schools were found to have "significant lead hazards" exposing children. Federal experts were asked to help develop a strategy to test and triage Milwaukee public school students for lead poisoning, as well as help with outreach to the community.
"This only underscores the importance of the role local public health plays in protecting communities — and the challenges we now face without federal expertise to call on," Caroline Reinwald, a spokesperson for the City of Milwaukee Health Department, said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday.
Children exposed to lead can face serious harm to their brain and nervous system, including slowing their development and causing problems with their hearing and speech.
/snip
By Alexander Tin
Edited By Sarah Lynch Baldwin
April 11, 2025 / 12:19 PM EDT / CBS News
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rejected a request from health officials in Milwaukee for help with a lead poisoning investigation, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated the agency's response team.
"I sincerely regret to inform you that due to the complete loss of our Lead Program, we will be unable to support you with this," Aaron Bernstein, director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told city officials April 3 in an email obtained by CBS News.
Officials in Milwaukee and Wisconsin's state health department had formally requested the CDC's help on March 26, after many of the city's schools were found to have "significant lead hazards" exposing children. Federal experts were asked to help develop a strategy to test and triage Milwaukee public school students for lead poisoning, as well as help with outreach to the community.
"This only underscores the importance of the role local public health plays in protecting communities — and the challenges we now face without federal expertise to call on," Caroline Reinwald, a spokesperson for the City of Milwaukee Health Department, said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday.
Children exposed to lead can face serious harm to their brain and nervous system, including slowing their development and causing problems with their hearing and speech.
/snip
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