WASHINGTON — Two children living in D.C.’s largest homeless shelter have tested positive for elevated lead levels.
NBC Washington reports that it is still unknown whether the children were exposed to lead at D.C. General or it happened elsewhere. However, one of the cafeterias inside the shelter tested positive for lead and was forced to close down.
The affected children, who are not related and live in separate rooms, are nine months old and two years old, NBC Washington says.
“There was nothing in their rooms where they were staying; there was a common area where there was some chipping paint in the cafeteria there and the paint tested positive to have lead in it,” Laura Green Zeilinger, director of the D.C. Department of Human Services, told NBC Washington.
Residents were informed of the lead concern Tuesday, and every child there may be tested for exposure.
Watch NBC Washington’s report below:
