As school-aged kids return to classes in Trail, B.C., children under three in the Interior community are fulfilling a more unusual end-of-summer tradition — having their blood tested to determine how much lead is in their bodies.
Interior Health public health nurses have been offering these tests in the area since 1991, for children aged six months to three years old, as lead smelter emissions have been a concern in the area for decades.
And while last year’s results showed relatively low levels, medical experts say there is no safe level of lead in blood.
Lead — a toxic substance — occurs naturally in rock and soil, however it also gets released into the environment through mining and smelting, according to Health Canada.
People are most often exposed to the toxin through food, drinking water and consumer products that contain lead, but those who live near and work in smelters tend to face higher rates of exposure.
Trail is home to one of the last lead smelters in North America, which employs more than 1,400 people. According to the 2021 census, there are about 14,000 people living in the Trail census agglomeration area.
The smelter company, Teck Resources, along with the city and local health authority are well aware of the risks of living near a lead smelter, so the three partnered with the province to create the Trail Area Health and Environment Program (THEP) — which does lead testing in air, soil and blood, and does education campaigns and dust control.
Teck said in an email to CBC News it is trying to reduce emissions; aside from its involvement in THEP, the company installed a KIVCET smelter in 1997, which it says led to a 99.5 per cent reduction in emissions. It also has a program to reduce lead dust in the air, which since 2012, has seen an 80 per cent reduction in annual ambient lead levels, Teck said.
Even with all the work they put in, testing still finds trace amounts of lead, though. In 2024, blood tests on children under three years old found an average lead blood level of 2.2 micrograms per decilitre — similar to the year prior.
Though that number may appear small, experts say there’s no safe level of lead in blood.
“We can see effects down below one microgram per decilitre,” said Bruce Lanphear, a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University, with an expertise in lead poisoning.
“Down to the lowest measurable levels, we see harms in children, including IQ deficits, increased risk of ADHD-type behaviours. When we think about pregnant women, we can also see, with very small increases in blood lead, an increased risk of pre-term birth.”
Public health nurse Meghan Morris said THEP’s testing program focuses on kids under three because lead exposure is common among toddlers and infants who may be exposed to lead dust when crawling on the floor and putting their hands in their mouths.
“The lowest level possible for each individual child is what our program strives for, so we do education and support to all families living in the greater Trail area.”
And while education and testing are great, Lanphear said more needs to be done to stop lead from getting into anyone’s bloodstream — child or adult.
“Low-level lead poisoning is one of the major risk factors for heart attacks,” he said.
“We need to address it more aggressively than we have in the past.”
But, he also recognizes the conundrum a community like Trail, which has relied on that industry for more than 100 years, faces when it comes to eradicating lead exposure while also protecting a local economy.
“It’s a real challenge I think for communities like this because they are very dependent economically on these industries,” Lanphear said.
