Guide to the Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records, 1971-1975 AIS.1990.14
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records
Creator
Allegheny County (Pa.). Health Department
Collection Number
AIS.1990.14
Extent
28.75 Linear Feet
Date
1971-1975
Date
1974-1975
Abstract
The Allegheny County Health Department Lead Survey, 1971-1975, was part of a nationwide effort to identify and treat cases of lead poisoning in preschool children and to remove environmental lead hazards from their homes. The Lead Survey records consist of the Administrative series (correspondence within the department and with external agencies, grant applications, records of expenses, notes on department meetings, lead testing procedures, and equipment), the Blood Lead series (individuals' blood lead test results and summaries of the data), and the Environmental Lead Abatement series (lead test results for individual addresses and composite data per region).
Language
English
.
Author
Donnis Headley.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Acquisition Information
Gift of Allegheny County Health Department, on October 9, 1991.
Previous Citation
Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records, 1971-1975, AIS.1990.14, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records, 1971-1975, AIS.1990.14, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Access Restrictions
This collection is for statistical use only. Qualified researchers shall make special application in writing to the Head of the Archives Service Center requesting access to the Records of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Health Department Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Project OR "Requests for use of the records shall be made in writing to the Chief of Biostatistics of the Allegheny County Health Department".
Copyright
All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Donnis Headley in August 2005.
History
The Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey Records span the years 1971 to 1975. It represents an early stage in the ongoing nationwide effort to improve children's well being by eradicating unhealthful amounts of lead in their surroundings and bodies. Although it later became part of the national blood lead survey, Allegheny County's Lead Survey began as a pilot study of a local blighted neighborhood. Tests of the neighborhood's children showed that they had lower levels of lead exposure than their peers in other cities. Health Department officials sought to determine if the relatively low incidence of lead poisoning occurred because health care providers were not looking for it or because the Allegheny County children's lives were somehow different from those of their counterparts in other cities. As explained in the Allegheny County Health Department's March 1, 1972 Lead Poisoning Control Program book (pages 3-4), "These questions concern us, and provide the basis for our interest in establishment of a lead poisoning control project in Allegheny County..." to gain answers and "provide ...effective lead poisoning detection."
The Allegheny County Lead Survey project was performed under the leadership of Dr. Albert H. Brunwasser, with Drs. Penn Lupovic, Roger Juselius, and Richard Moriarty, assisted by Robert Kambic, Janet Bonk, nurses, laboratory personnel, and teams of paraprofessional workers who were recruited from local communities and trained in survey methods. The Health Department continued to assess and document lead levels in children's blood and in their homes through 1975, when funding was discontinued. Although the Braddock, Hill District, Homestead, Homewood-Brushton, North Braddock, North Side-Manchester, Rankin, Turtle Creek Valley, and Wilkinsburg neighborhoods were surveyed, some areas of the County had not been studied at the program's conclusion, and the reason for the lower-than-expected blood lead levels does not appear to have been found.
Scope and Content Notes
The records of the Allegheny County, Pa. Health Department Lead Survey date from 1971 to 1975. This collection falls into three main series: Administrative records, Blood Lead data, and Environmental Lead Abatement data.
The Administrative series affords an overview of the entire project through grant applications, correspondence, reports and publications, and notes on environmental lead testing equipment. Blood lead data makes up most of the collection, in amounts varying by year collected, rising to a 1974 peak. The Blood Lead series also includes permission slips, patient records (case files, index cards), and summaries of data. The Environmental Lead Abatement Data includes documentation on individual residences and summaries of this data grouped by census tract, street, and zip code.
All three series make reference to the "N.B.S." This abbreviation stands for the National Bureau of Standards, whose personnel advised the administrators of local blood lead surveys during this period.
Related Material
The following four publications are available through the University Library System:
Allegheny County Health Department Lead Based Paint Survey Manual. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Allegheny County Health Department.
Allegheny County Health Department Lead Poisoning Control Program. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Allegheny County Health Department, 1972.
Increased Lead Absorption and Lead Poisoning in Young Children: A Statement by the Center for Disease Control. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Public Health Service. March 1975.
Lin-Fu, Jane S. Childhood Lead Poisoning…an Eradicable Disease. Reprinted by the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, Maternal and Child Health Service, from Children, January-February 1970, No. 1, 2-9.
Subjects
Corporate Names
Allegheny County (Pa.). Health Department
United States. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Pennsylvania. Bureau of Community Environmental Control
