The Illinois House on Wednesday passed a bill that would require health departments to conduct follow-up inspections after they tell homeowners they have dangerous amounts of lead in their homes. 

Lead exposure in childhood can lead to nervous system damage and developmental issues. Despite decades of policy around lead exposure, there are still an estimated 1.3 million homes in Illinois with hazardous levels of paint-based lead contamination, according to records from the Illinois Department of Public Health. 

Public health departments must inspect a home when they learn that a child has elevated blood lead levels. If they find dangerous lead levels, they issue a "mitigation notice" telling the owner to fix the problem. 

Health departments are not required to conduct follow-up inspections, though the current law says they "may" perform follow-up inspections. 

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Rep. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, introduced the bill and said this will bring the law in alignment with the existing practice of IDPH and local health departments. 

"Most of the time, when they are given that time frame to fix the issue, it’s not getting done," said Collins during Wednesday’s debate. "What this legislation does is it puts more enforcement behind it."

The measure was passed nearly unanimously, 105-5. All five minority votes were Republicans. 

"It’s not that it’s a bad bill per se," said Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, who voted against the bill. "Why do we keep doing these kinds of bills when we have better things to be doing to bring fiscal stability to Illinois?" 

The bill now goes to the Senate. 

Blood lead levels are measured in micrograms of lead (µg) per deciliter of blood (dL). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used 5 µg/dL as a benchmark for many years to assess blood lead levels, though they lowered the benchmark to 3.5 µg/dL in 2021. 

Illinois had, at one time, one of the highest rates of lead poisoning in children in the nation. In 2012, 9.2% of tested children had more than 5 µg/dL of lead in their blood, compared to a national average of 5.2%, according to CDC data. 

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State data also backs up that over the past 25 years, fewer kids are facing lead poisoning. In 1997, there were 185,000 children in the state with elevated blood lead levels. In 2019, that figure had dropped to 9,600. 

"It mostly happens in communities of color with these old units that have high levels of lead," said Collins.

IDPH tracks children with elevated lead levels in their blood. Black children are disproportionately affected by lead exposure.

In 2019, 44% children with blood lead levels above 5 µg/dL were Black, despite having the lowest testing levels of any racial group, according to the IDPH’s most recently published report. 

In Sangamon County, 62% of all houses were built before a 1978 ban on lead paint, a major source for childhood lead poisoning. Based on the number of homes in the county, that means there are about 22,600 homes in the county with significant lead-based paint hazards. 

Lead can also come from pipes. Springfield’s City, Water, Light and Power estimates that about one in five — over 10,000 — of the city’s water service lines are lead. They are currently working on a project to replace about 750 of those lines before 2027. 

Contact Andrew Adams: aadams1@gannett.com; (312)-291-1417; twitter.com/drewjayadams.