The FDA has expanded the availability of the first portable lead test “to more than 115,000 certified point-of-care locations nationwide, including healthcare clinics, mobile health units and schools. This will allow children and adults to be tested and treated for lead poisoning much easier and faster.”
The device is called LeadCare II Blood Lead Test System and it is made by ESA Biosciences, a Chelmsford, Mass. company.
The company explains the advantages of its technology:
LeadCare II delivers quantitative blood-lead results, equivalent to those reported by reference laboratories, with only two drops of blood in just three minutes so providers no longer have to wait days for expensive lab results, or spend time trying to contact patients for critical follow-up care. It requires only a finger-stick sample and can be combined with other routine waived blood tests. Further, since LeadCare II qualifies for reimbursement as a quantitative blood-lead test and the cost per test is actually less than one would pay an outside laboratory, it is an attractive option for individual physicians and lead-poisoning-prevention programs; it frees valuable resources to enable them to screen more at-risk children.
FDA statement…
Company press release…
Product page: LeadCare II Analyzer Kit