A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) team tasked with tracking and preventing lead poisoning remains sidelined after widespread federal health layoffs ordered by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leaving key public health efforts stalled.
Alexander Tin reports for CBS News.
In short:
- The CDC's Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch was dismantled as part of Kennedy’s broader cuts, pausing support for local health departments including efforts in Milwaukee and on an American Indian reservation.
- The layoffs also disrupted data collection on childhood lead exposure and delayed a major update used across federal and local health agencies.
- CDC officials say no other agency is equipped to replace the specialized work of the eliminated team, whose investigations also extended to issues like environmental disasters and asthma.
Key quote:
"If there is a plan, it would be nice to know who will do this work. We would like to come back to the work and keep it going."
— Erik Svendsen, director of the CDC's Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice
Why this matters:
Lead poisoning is one of those quiet, chronic threats that never really went away, and it’s still doing outsized damage in places the national spotlight often misses. In places with aging housing stock, especially in lower-income neighborhoods and tribal communities, lead-based paint and contaminated water pipes remain key sources of exposure. For children, the consequences are especially stark: Even low levels of lead in the blood can irreversibly damage brain development, contributing to learning disabilities, behavioral issues, and lower lifetime earnings. For years, a specialized branch within the CDC has led national efforts to track and address this problem. But recent federal restructuring has stripped away that centralized capacity. The result is a dangerous gap in the nation’s public health defense.
Related: Tracking down a poison: Inside the fight for global action on lead
