We built a national map that predicts childhood lead-exposure risk for every neighborhood in America, from public data alone, then checked it against real blood tests in eight states. It works. And it ends where a map cannot: an actual test you can run.
Old housing carries lead paint and lead dust. Poverty tracks deferred maintenance and aging stock. Those two facts, which the U.S. Census already collects for every neighborhood, predict where childhood lead exposure concentrates, and a 2024 EPA study validated the approach against roughly 4 million children's blood tests. We made that prediction national, current, and free, then proved it against measured blood lead in eight states. The map points to the risky places. A cheap on-the-spot test confirms the hazard in a specific home before a child is exposed. That is the whole idea: find the lead before the child does.
