When St. Joseph County residents qualify for WIC (the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), they gain access to B.A.B.E. & More, a store-like experience that allows expectant mothers and parents-to-be to redeem coupons for infant and childhood essentials like diapers and bottles.

Last year, B.A.B.E. store “shoppers” were offered something new to help their families: free lead screening kits offered by the University of Notre Dame’s Lead Innovation Team. These kits allow parents to determine the risks of lead in their homes and to their children.

“During early childhood development, the body is rapidly changing, growing and doing everything it needs to do in those early years. Lead disrupts all of that,” said Heidi Beidinger-Burnett, professor of the practice at the Eck Institute for Global Health and community health leader for the Notre Dame Lead Innovation Team.

Lead poisoning is linked to developmental problems, anemia, and brain and nervous system damage in children. The CDC says that there is no safe blood lead level and even low levels of lead can “reduce a child’s learning capacity, ability to pay attention and academic achievement.” Children under the age of six are considered to be of greater risk for lead poisoning due to their developing brains and nervous systems.

Unfortunately, the South Bend community is uniquely vulnerable to lead poisoning as 80 percent of the city’s homes were built before 1978 and are likely to have lead paint. By focusing on B.A.B.E. store shoppers, the goal is to reach young families that may rent or own one of these houses.

“It’s critically important to work with young parents and new moms, such as those coming to the B.A.B.E. store, so we can find the lead early, ideally before a new baby is born or brought home,” Beidinger-Burnett said.

Initial testing from the program, a partnership with Beacon Community Impact, showed that nearly half of returned lead screening kits tested positive for elevated lead levels. And of those lead-positive kits, Beidinger-Burnett said 95 percent were from a home with at least one child age six or younger.

If a home lead test comes back positive, the Notre Dame Lead Innovation Team gets in touch with parents about available resources including options for lead testing for children under the age of seven.

But even if families confirm lead exposure in the home, removing it can be burdensome and expensive. However, Lead Safe South Bend is helping homeowners and landlords alleviate that potential cost.

“The City of South Bend offers funding to qualified families and landlords to repair homes with lead exposure. This is an incredibly important resource for our community. The City works to fix your house and make it safer for your family,” Beidinger-Burnett said.

Those eligible can apply for Lead-Safe Home Repair funding from the City of South Bend. The grant program allows qualifying homeowners to receive funding to pay contractors for necessary lead safety repairs.

“The Lead Hazard Reduction Program through the City of South Bend is set to expire in December 2025. Funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City has been able to support homeowners, landlords and renters, focusing on homes built before 1978 with children under the age of six living in the home,” said Emily Bastine, director of neighborhood health and housing for the City of South Bend. “Working hard to meet their goal, the City currently has capacity to remediate another twenty homes. The Lead team looks for opportunities to collaborate with entities such as the Notre Dame Lead Innovation Team and the St. Joseph County Department of Health in order to share with the target population.”

This is valuable, as Beidinger-Burnett shared that about 75 percent of the returned lead screening kits from the B.A.B.E. store were from those who live in rental homes.

“If a child is exposed to lead, even small amounts, over months or years, we get into some real scary territory in terms of health risk that we may not be able to come back from,” Beidinger-Burnett said. “Lead poisoning contributes to ADHD, reduced IQ and lower reading levels. But we have an opportunity here to stop the exposure, and prevent any kind of lead-poisoning progression.”

Beyond the partnership with WIC, home lead screening kits are available upon request or at designated pickup locations. To learn more about receiving a free kit, please visit leadinfo.nd.edu.

In addition to Beidinger-Burnett, Notre Dame’s Lead Innovation Team includes Marya Lieberman, Graham Peaslee and Vikrant Jandev in the College of Science as well as Matthew Sisk and Donovan Leiva in the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu