Welcome to the Clark County, NV Childhood Lead Surveillance Dashboard

The dashboards and data available through this application are the result of an ongoing collaboration between the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD). The goal was to launch a geographically specific data visualization tool that provides lead testing rates and lead exposure risk by ZIP code in Clark County, NV. The purpose is to provide surveillance of elevated blood lead levels >=3.5 ug/dL in children under 6 years old, which is currently targeted by the Nevada Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


Understanding the Data

The data used in this application was gathered from the following sources:

  • Commercial Laboratories
  • Healthcare Providers
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    The Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 441A requires healthcare providers and laboratories to report known lead exposures and blood lead levels to SNHD. The purpose of reporting and surveillance of blood lead levels allows SNHD to monitor blood levels throughout Clark County, NV and decrease lead exposures by identifying the source of lead involved, identifying sensitive populations exposed to lead, identifying sensitive occupations in which lead particles may be brought into the home, and educating the community about sources of lead as well as limiting lead exposure.


    The data available through this application can be used to assess relative testing rates among children <6 years of age by ZIP code throughout Clark County, NV. The lead testing rate is an estimated percentage of children <6 years of age living in a given ZIP code who screened for lead compared to the estimated total of children <6 living in the same ZIP code. Testing rates with fewer than 12 tests or ZIP codes with populations less than 100 are suppressed based on data suppression rules. The lead exposure risk index can be used to assess and identify ZIP codes of high and low risk for lead exposure, based on two well-known identified risk factors; age of housing and percent poverty. It is important to note that the lead risk exposure index does not provide us with where lead poisoning is occurring, but what ZIP codes in Clark County, NV have a greater potential for lead exposure based on age of housing and poverty. The lead exposure risk does not take into consideration occupation, hobbies, and/or imported goods which may introduce lead particles into a household.


    Using the Dashboard

    For optimal compatability, please use the Chrome or Firefox Web Browsers.

    Explanation of icons/settings when navigating the site:

    - Collapses or 'hides' the sidebar. For some screen sizes (i.e. 1078x768), collapsing the side bar may improve viewing of the dashboard. If not, we recommend adjusting your browser window.

    Settings: - Settings for graphs or tables. Each window has an analytic focus and is customizable by clicking the 'settings' tab in each window. You will have the option of selecting:


  • Data Source
  • Year to display (all graphs default to the most current year of data)
  • Data Indicator (please review the Data Definitions page)
  • Geography (depends on the graph)
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    Clicking, Hovering, Scrolling, & Dragging All of the graphs and maps are dynamic. Which means they respond to clicking, hovering over, scrolling or dragging elements. The maps will zoom by scrolling, move by dragging (like Google Maps), and will display data for colored geographic areas upon clicking. All of the graphs respond to clicking and dragging. You can reset the graphs by double-clicking. All of the bar charts will display data values by hovering your mouse over the bars. Our advice is to explore the graphs in order to achieve the rendering of the data desired.

    Please select your County

    Maps

    Rankings

    Definition of the Indicator:

    Data are preliminary and subject to changes.

    Lead Testing Rate

    Numerator:

    Clark County children <6 years of age who screened for lead and whose tests were reported to SNHD between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

    Denominator:

    Clark County estimates for children <6 years of age
    The data used for the denominator is from the U.S. Census American Community Survey's (ACS) 2016-2020 five-year population estimates for Clark County, NV. The estimates for children < 6 years of age are from the B17024 data file.

    Limitations:

  • The accuracy and completeness of testing data relies on reports received from healthcare providers and commercial laboratories. Reports received often are incomplete regarding contact information (i.e., address and phone number). Approximately 97% of lab results received reported ZIP codes.
  • The accuracy of testing percentages relies on population estimates. Multiple year estimates are more precise and reliable than one-year estimates. The testing data provides 2020 data.

    • Definition of the Indicator:

    Data are preliminary and subject to changes.

    Lead Exposure Risk

    Calculation:

  • The percentage of houses at risk in each ZIP code is calculated by the corresponding lead risk found in the American Health Homes Survey (HUD 2011) based on age of housing categories.
  • Data is standardized by creating z-scores for age of housing and poverty for each ZIP code
  • z-score = (risk - mean) / standard deviation
    •
  • Age of housing and poverty are weighted and combined to create a raw lead risk score and assigned to deciles to illustrate lead exposure risk by ZIP code.
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    The lead exposure risk index is an adaptation of the methodologies developed by Washington State Department of Health and used by the state of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

    The lead exposure risk index is calculated by using the following two datasets from the ACS 2016-2020 five-year population estimates for Clark County, NV; B25034 and S1701.

    Limitations:

  • The accuracy of the lead exposure risk index is dependent on demographic estimates obtained from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. There is a variation in reliability of ACS estimates. ACS estimates are less reliable or precise than census long-form estimates. ACS is used to obtain population characteristics whereas the 2010 Census obtains counts of the population and their basic characteristics.
  • The lead exposure risk index is based on ZIP codes rather than census tracts. ZIP codes provide less geographic values compared to census tracts. ZIP codes boundaries can change more frequently than census tracts as areas within the community grow.
  • The lead exposure risk does not take into consideration other exposures other than two established risks; age of housing and poverty. Based on ACS estimates approximately 19% of houses were built before 1980. The methodology used weights age of housing at 58% and poverty at 42%.