The Childhood Lead Poisoning Laboratory analyzes children’s blood specimens for lead for screening (capillary) and diagnostic (venous) purposes. The laboratory also analyzes environmental samples for lead content including water, air, paint chips, dust wipes, toys and other potential sources of exposure. Most specimens are submitted by county health departments, as part of public health investigations of lead poisoning.

The laboratory is CLIA certified (33D0654341) for clinical testing and holds a NYS DOH Clinical Laboratory Permit CLIA# 33D0654341 and PFI# 1067 in the category Toxicology Blood Lead – Comprehensive.  The laboratory is fully certified under NELAP standards for environmental testing by both the NYSDOH (Lab #10762) and by the State of Florida (E37911).

Lead Analysis/tests routinely performed:

  • Blood: performed as a diagnostic test on venous blood, or as a screening test on capillary blood specimens, using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).
  • Soil: performed for county health units as a supporting test to identify potential sources of lead exposure in confirmed lead poisoning cases.
  • Paint: performed on paint chips for county health units as a supporting test to identify potential sources of lead exposure in confirmed lead poisoning cases. The method involves digesting paint chips in strong acid and measuring lead by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
  • Dust: performed on dust wipes for county health units as a supporting test to identify potential sources of lead exposure in confirmed lead poisoning cases. The method involves digesting dust wipes in strong acid and measuring lead by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.

Academic Programs: Senior laboratory scientists hold academic appointments in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the University at Albany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences.  The laboratory hosts both doctoral (PhD) and masters (MS, MPH) students working toward degrees awarded by the University at Albany in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS). Staff members co-teach several graduate courses (core and electives) that are required for completion of the degree. They include EHS 525 Environmental Chemical Analysis, EHS 530 Principles of Environmental Chemistry, EHS 530 Principles of Toxicology, and EHS 621 Chromatographic Methods. Opportunities for high school students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, chemist aides, and laboratory technicians are available, along with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation.

Current research areas: The lead poisoning laboratory is now integrated into a larger research program that is focused on Human Biomonitoring and trace element analysis of both clinical and environmental samples. Please see the Exposome Research Area.

Featured Publications

Johnson-Restrepo B, Blain E, Judd, C, Tysoe A, Parsons, PJ. New developments in monochromatic energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence instrumentation for monitoring toxic elements in food matrices: advantages and limitations. Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.112749
Pacer EJ, Palmer CD, Parsons PJ. Determination of lead in blood by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction: Improving a well-established method to support a lower blood lead reference value for children. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy. 2022; 190 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2021.106324
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Tehrani MW, Galusha AL, Kannan A, Parsons PJ. Lead uptake into calcified and keratinized compartments of horns from a convenience sample of lead-dosed goats. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2021; Sep 17;84 (18): 729-742. DOI: 0.1080/15287394.2021.1938766
Pubmed Web Address
Parsons PJ, Galusha Aubrey L, Cui Y, Faustman EM, Falman JC, Meeker JD, Kannan K. A critical review of the analysis of dried blood spots for characterizing human exposure to inorganic targets using methods based on analytical atomic spectrometry. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. 2020; 35 (10): 2092-112.
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Carter JA, Erhardt RJ, Jones BT, Donati, GL. Survey of lead in drinking water from schools and child care centers operating as public water suppliers in North Carolina, USA: implications for future legislation. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020; 54 14152-14160.
Carter JA, Jones BT, Donati GL. Trace element analysis, model-based clustering and flushing to prevent drinking water contamination in public schools. J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 2019; 30 (3): 462-471.
Guimaraes D, Cleaver TM, Martin SF, Parsons PJ. Radioisotope-based XRF instrumentation for determination of lead in paint: an assessment of the current accuracy and reliability of portable analyzers used in New York State. Analytical Methods. 2015; (7): 366-374.
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