Blood Lead Data

Blood lead data collection

The lead program's data collection activities protect the health of the public and promote awareness of lead issues by:

• Monitoring lead testing activities and tracking the occurrence of elevated blood lead cases in the state.
• Maintaining a high-quality database of information that can be used to effectively manage the risks associated with lead exposure.
• Providing the basis for strategies designed to reduce the occurrence of lead-related disease, conducted collaboratively with local, state and federal partners.

Accessing blood lead surveillance data

The Minnesota Public Health Data Access is a publicly available data portal that provides data and information for risk factors that affect health. This data portal includes maps, charts, and data on childhood lead exposure, risk factors for lead exposure, and many other issues that affect public health in Minnesota.

A Blood Lead Surveillance Report is published annually by the MDH Lead and Healthy Homes Program. This and other reports can be found at MDH Lead Poisoning and Prevention Reports webpage.

To request data summaries that are not available at the above websites, contact MDH Lead Poisoning Prevention staff at Lead Contacts: Lead Surveillance. Minnesota Statutes, section 144.9502, subd. 9 classifies data in the MN blood lead database as private. Data requests are evaluated individually to ensure data provided are summarized to protect the identity of individuals.

Testing result reporting

Minnesota Statutes, section 144.9502, subd. 3, requires laboratories to submit all blood lead test results to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). This includes tests conducted on point-of-care machines. More information on required timelines and data elements for reporting blood lead data, see the Reporting Blood Lead Test Results.

Blood lead testing

To learn more about who should be tested for exposure to lead, visit the Screening Guidelines.

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