Lead Testing Services

Huntington Beach, CA, April 15^th, 2020

Earlier this year, a California State Auditor report was released that found that millions of children in Medi-Cal are not receiving lead tests. State law requires, in most circumstances, that children enrolled in Medi-Cal receive tests for elevated lead levels at the ages of one and two years.

According to the State Auditors findings:

When we reviewed data maintained by DHCS, we found that from fiscal years 2009–10 through 2017–18, more than 1.4 million of the 2.9 million one- and two-year-old children enrolled in Medi-Cal did not receive any of the required tests, and another 740,000 children missed one of the two tests. As a result, the rate of eligible children receiving all of the tests that they should have was less than 27 percent. Without these tests, health care providers do not know whether these children are suffering from elevated lead levels and need treatment.

Although exposure to lead can be dangerous for people of all ages, it is particularly harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of young children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that millions of households in the United States have children living in them that are being exposed to high levels of lead. This is alarming as lead exposure can affect nearly every system in the body and no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.

“Testing vulnerable children for lead exposure is an important step in preventing lead poisoning,” said Michael Chapman, Laboratory Manager at LA Testing’s Huntington Beach facility. “Most young children are exposed to lead in and around their homes due to the past use of lead-based paints. At LA Testing, our California laboratories offer indoor and outdoor environmental testing for lead from paint chips, dust, water, soil, surfaces and other sources. All of the sampling supplies required are available from LA Testing, along with easy-to-use test kits. Environmental testing is a quick and affordable way to determine if there are exposure risks in a home, daycare or school.”

To learn more about environmental lead testing services, please visit www.LATesting.com, email info@LATesting.com or call (800) 755-1794. To access lead or other indoor environmental quality (IEQ) test kits, visit www.EMSLTestKits.com.


About LA Testing
LA Testing is California’s leading laboratory for indoor air quality testing of asbestos, mold, lead, VOCs, formaldehyde, soot, char, ash and smoke damage, particulates and other chemicals. In addition, LA Testing offers a full range of air sampling and investigative equipment to professionals and the general public. LA Testing maintains an extensive list of accreditations including: : AIHA-LAP, LLC (AIHA-LAP, LLC EMLAP, AIHA-LAP, LLC IHLAP, AIHA-LAP, LLC ELLAP), CDC ELITE, NVLAP, State of California, State of Hawaii Department of Health and other states. LA Testing, along with the EMSL Analytical, Inc. network, has multiple laboratories throughout California including South Pasadena, Huntington Beach, San Leandro, San Diego and Ontario.