Services & Specialties
Environmental Health and Lead Poisoning

Get expert help identifying and treating environmental exposures like lead, mold and air pollutants that may affect your child’s health.
Community Benefit Report - Sickle Cell, The Hackworth's daughter Saniya was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was one week old.

Understanding and Treating Lead Poisoning and Environmental Exposures in Children

If your child has been exposed to lead or other harmful substances in the environment, it can feel confusing and frightening. Many families do not know where the exposure happened or what to do next.

The Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s helps families find answers. As one of the few pediatric environmental health clinics in the Midwest, our team evaluates children not only for lead poisoning, but also for mold exposure, poor indoor air quality and other toxic exposures. 

Each year, our clinic helps about 750 patients improve their health and reduce environmental risks at home and in their community.

Why Choose Cincinnati Children's Environmental Health and Lead Clinic?

  • Evaluation for multiple types of toxins. Our clinic looks for lead poisoning, mold exposure, poor indoor air quality and other toxic exposures.
  • Dedicated nurse coordinator. A registered nurse connects with families at referral, helps coordinate care and guides families to public health and housing resources.
  • Specialist and community partner coordination. We connect with specialists and community organizations to address health, housing and environmental risks together.

Specialized Care for Lead and Environmental Health Risks

Nationally Recognized Environmental Health Expertise

Our clinic includes globally recognized environmental health experts. The program is also part of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) network. This federally supported network connects leading environmental health centers across the country.

Personalized Plans for Every Exposure

Managing environmental health problems requires understanding the diagnosis, finding the exposure, and developing a plan that improves a child’s health.

Our team evaluates your child’s health, exposure history and living environment. We then develop a personalized care plan to treat the medical effects and help prevent future exposure.

Dedicated Support for Families

Families work closely with a dedicated nurse coordinator throughout care. The nurse contacts families after referral and remains a point of support during treatment.

They help schedule care, answer questions and connect families with local public health departments and community resources.

Whole-Child Environmental Health Care

Environmental exposure can affect many parts of a child’s health. That is why we work with specialists across Cincinnati Children’s.

We often collaborate with experts in allergy and immunology, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, and other specialties. This whole-child approach helps ensure nothing is overlooked in your child’s care.