New Jersey school district plans to screen all students for lead exposure

With the help of $50,000 in grant funding from a local coalition called Neighborhood Connections to Health, New Jersey's Freehold Borough School District plans to screen its nearly 1,700 students for lead exposure this year, the Asbury Park Press reports.In June, the school district worked with the Freehold Township Health Department to screen more than 60 children under the age of 6 whose parents volunteered them to be tested. They found only a few that tested above 5 micrograms per deciliter, the level at which state law says doctors must flag infants and young kids.However, students in the district are considered at a higher risk of exposure than normal because about 80% of them are low-income, about 85% of the available housing was built before 1978 – when the use of lead-based paint was banned. Additionally, the majority of students are Hispanic, prompting concerns about lead-tainted candies imported from Mexico and sold in local stores.