Maine CDC Releases Updated Guidance on Blood Level Reference Range

Posted on December 09, 2022

Lead Testing

The Maine CDC has released updated guidance on the Blood Lead Level Reference Range.

Please see the updates below and view the attachment for more details.

NEW Maine CDC Pediatric Blood Lead Testing Guidelines

Maine CDC Website for Childhood Lead Poisoning

Maine CDC has issued new pediatric blood lead testing guidelines

· Any child up to age 6 yrs old with a blood lead level >3.5 ug/dL performed by capillary measures needs venous confirmatory testing.

· If the venous confirmatory results are 3.5 ug/dL - <5 ug/dL, Maine CDC will offer free home lead dust tests to these families (starting Winter 2022).

o If these homes have high lead dust levels, Maine CDC will provide lead hazard investigations and case management services.

· All results >5 ug/dL will follow the same guidance as before.

What this means for sites with LeadCare II machines:

· Any child with a result from the LeadCare II machine of 3.5 ug/dL or above needs to have venous confirmatory testing.

· The Blood Lead Reference Range for “LEAD, POC” in EPIC has been changed from <5 ug/dL to <3.5 ug/dL.

· This does not change the way results are entered into EPIC. If the LeadCare II machine reads “low” the result is still entered as “<3.3”