Alameda County Data

How many children in Alameda County are exposed to lead?

According to the 2010 U.S. Census over 100,000 children under the age of five live in Alameda County. Yet only 23,617 children were screened for lead during 2010. Many more need to be screened especially those at risk of lead poisoning. The data below reflects only those children who were tested for lead.

Blood Lead Levels among Children under 21 Years Old Screened in Alameda County, by Year

Year	Number of children screened for lead	Number of children with blood lead levels 4.5 - 9.4 μg/dL		Number of children with blood lead levels > 9.5 μg/dL		Total number of lead exposed children
2007	16,448	651	4.0%	301	1.8%	745	4.5%
2008	17,502	489	2.8%	223	1.3%	558	3.2%
2009	18,363	561	3.1%	168	0.9%	651	3.5%
2010	22,701	386	1.70%	54	0.24%	466	2.05%
2011	21,454	391	1.82%	72	0.34%	463	2.16%
2012	19,452	388	1.99%	84	0.43%	607	3.12%
2013	20,150	357	1.77%	66	0.33%	527	2.62%
2014	19,157	362	1.89%	75	0.39%	437	2.28%
2015	18,954	396	2.09%	66	0.35%	462	2.44%
2016	18,913	380	2.01%	74	0.39%	454	2.40%
2017	19,718	325	1.65%	94	0.48%	419	2.12%
2018	18,694	356	1.90%	77	0.41%	433	2.32%
2019	19,091	278	1.46%	88	0.46%	366	1.92%
2020	13,299	198	1.49%	771	0.53%	269	2.02%

Data Source: Response and Surveillance System for Childhood Lead Exposures (RASSCLE II) from the State of California, Department of Public Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch.

How many homes in Alameda County have lead-based paint?

Lead-based paint is the most common source of lead poisoning. Over 75% of the housing in Alameda County was built before 1978, the year the lead was banned from house paint. In the City of Oakland, 90% of the housing was built before 1978. The older the home, the more likely it is to contain multiple layers of lead-based paint.

Number of Alameda County Housing Units Built before 1978

Year built	# of units
Pre-1940	118,411
1940-1959	121,340
1960-1977	157,621
TOTAL	397,372

Data Source: 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates