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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-30 Daily Xml
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BLOOD LEAD LEVELS

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Health. What are the latest blood lead level testing results in children under the age of five in Port Pirie?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:55): In April this year I reported that the 2007 results of blood screening of children in Port Pirie showed that the number of children under the age of five with lead levels over 10 micrograms per decilitre was at its lowest number since we started recording this data in the early 1980s. Today I am pleased to announce that the results for the first half of 2008 are even better. Some 63.1 per cent of children tested within the first six months of this year recorded a blood lead level less than 10 micrograms per decilitre. This is an 8 per cent improvement compared with the same period last year.

The member for Frome might be interested in these statistics. There has been a 20.7 per cent improvement in the number of children under the age of five with blood lead levels under the World Health Organisation 'level of concern' of micrograms per decilitre since 2005. Furthermore, the number of children with a blood lead level equal to or greater than 20 micrograms per decilitre—I think a decilitre is one-tenth of a litre—has already halved from 63 children at June 2007 to 32 children at June 2008. The reduction in blood lead levels can be largely attributed to the TenBy10 program, which is a joint initiative between Nyrstar (Port Pirie smelter), Port Pirie Regional Council and the state government. The TenBy10 project has set a goal to ensure that at least 95 per cent of children under five have a blood lead level of less than 10 micrograms per decilitre by the end of 2010. This is a challenging target that can be achieved if the same rates of improvement which have been observed over the past few years are sustained into the future.

Success in reducing blood lead levels in children in Port Pirie has come about due to the combined efforts of the smelter operator, the local Port Pirie Regional Council, the Environment Protection Authority and SA Health. Of particular importance has been the substantial investment by Nyrstar in on-site emission control measures and environmental programs. Extensive community education and awareness programs have had the effect of increasing people's understanding of the interaction of lead dust in the environment and how to limit children's exposure to lead dust within the home. Blood testing undertaken by the Department of Health has identified children with high blood lead levels, allowing us to directly assist individual families to reduce exposure to lead dust.

The figures I am releasing today demonstrate that we are making considerable progress in solving a problem that has plagued the people of Port Pirie for decades. The people of Port Pirie, the local council and Nyrstar are to be congratulated on this achievement.

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