A naturally occurring, malleable, dense, blue-gray metal, lead has been used in commercial products such as fossil fuels, house paint, batteries, ammunition, solder, pipes, devices to shield X-rays, and craft-making products. But because of health concerns, government agencies imposed regulations that either eliminated or dramatically reduced the amount of lead added to gasoline, paints, food cans, ceramic products, caulking, and pipe solder.

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. -- The Claus' made their way from the North Pole to deliver a different kind of gift to the Whitney M. Young Health Services in both Albany and Troy. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus delivered two lead poisoning tester kits that can be used in the offices to make screening for lead in young children a lot easier. Officials say given the holiday season and heightened concerns about the levels of lead in children's toys, the machines will provide an invaluable resource to the diverse communities utilizing Whitney M. Young's services and facilities.

The 2009 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation Award in the field of point of care heavy metal toxicity testing goes to Magellan Biosciences. The company has been recognized for its lead toxicity testing product known as the LeadCare^® II. This second-generation device uses electrochemical detection to perform rapid testing for lead concentration in blood. A CLIA-waived version of its original LeadCare^® system, LeadCare II is portable and easy to use by any healthcare professional without specialized training or certification. By contrast, traditional laboratory-based blood-lead testing employs large-scale, highly complex instrumentation that require significant skill and expertise to operate.

Originally published in Parents.com on April, 2008. When it comes to lead, there is just no safe blood level for children. According to a new report from the Centers for Desease Control and Prevention, any elevated level – even if it's under the cutoff for poisoning (10 µg/dL) – can still affect a child's physical and cognitive development. Ask your pediatrician about the new FDA-approved in-office lead test that provides results within three minutes. If your child's blood level is borderline high, it needs to be monitored.

by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 09-19-2007 10 Brooklyn School Health Sites SUNSET PARK/BAY RIDGE -The Lutheran Family Health Centers School Health Program now offers rapid lead testing at 10 of its school health sites. Using the rapid test, providers can deliver blood lead results equivalent to those reported by outside laboratories in just three minutes. Since the beginning of August, millions of products containing unsafe levels of lead paint have been recalled. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Americans should expect more recalls in the coming months.

lead content testing system Posted on : Tue, 19 Sep 2006 08:48:00 GMT | Author : Zipporah Koganowich News Category : Health WASHINGTON: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given clearance to a new blood testing system that can determine whether a person is exposed to high amount of lead. Magellan Biosciences, Inc., whose subsidiary, ESA Biosciences, has developed the LeadCare II blood-lead testing system, said Monday the FDA has granted a CLIA waiver for the new testing system, which can tell in a matter of three minutes whether a person is exposed to high levelss of lead. The test can...

families and federal guidelines call for testing all Medicaid kids at ages 1 and 2. But fewer than 25 percent of such children get the tests. Some of the local officials think rapid testing technology could help overcome that. (Optional add end) Regulators at the FDA determined that the Magellan Biosciences device could be used safely and accurately by nurses, doctors and others with just a minimum of training. All the patient must provide is a small amount of blood from a sterile pin prick. The availability of rapid testinng increases the likelihood that more children will be tested. And although...

to detect blood lead levels expeditiously. The incidents of lead poisoning in children is so common, almost one in four homes are tackling the challenge. The FDA has risen to the occasion, and rolled out a timely diagnostic examination, capable of recording blood lead levels in 3 minutes flat. ESA Biosciences of Chelmsford, Mass., the brain behind the snappy diagnostic test, have extended its reach and availability to 115,000 centers across the nation. Now, the healthcare clinics, mobile health units and schools will be armed with this valuable tool to screen children for abnormal lead levels....

depending on when the developing brain is exposed, Geller said. Separately, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that children with lead poisoning will have greater access to a new screening system that measures lead levels in blood in as little as three minutes. The test, made by ESA Biosciences of Chelmsford, Mass., now will be available at more than 115,000 certified locations nationwide, including health care clinics, mobile health units and schools. Each year, more than 300,000 children ages 5 and younger have blood levels that exceed the threshold used to indicate lead poisoning....