Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday announced that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has finalized a new rule, making permanent an emergency rule that the governor approved in January, to combat lead poisoning statewide by lowering the lead poisoning threshold to 3.5 µg/dL. The move will make more children and families eligible for lead poisoning and intervention resources, including education programming, screening, care coordination or follow-up services for those not covered by a third-party payer, and other activities related to poisoning or exposure.
The governor’s 2025-27 Executive Budget proposed investing more than $300 million to help get lead out of Wisconsinites’ pipes, water fountains, schools, homes and child care centers. However, the Wisconsin State Legislature recently gutted the efforts to clean up lead, PFAS and other harmful contaminants statewide and rejected hundreds of millions of dollars in investments that would have promoted increased access to safe and clean drinking water.
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