Doctors have long known that lead exposure during pregnancy poses significant health risks for both mothers and newborns, but universal screening is not mandated in New Jersey or nationwide. In 2019, a pioneering program launched by Rutgers Health with support by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced lead and heavy-metal screening at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., the main teaching hospital for Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), to detect and address exposure early. Rutgers and the hospital are collaborating on the project with the New Jersey Department of Health.
Onajovwe Fofah, a professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and director of the division of neonatal-perinatal medicine at University Hospital, is the principal investigator for heavy-metal screening for pregnant women and children at University Hospital. If exposure is found, Diane Calello, professor of emergency medicine at NJMS and executive and medical director of New Jersey Poison Control Center, offers guidance on treatment.
Fofah is preparing to share his findings with the American Academy of Pediatrics and request that the first lead screenings move from nine months of age to screening at birth. To read the full story.