L.A. Now Live: Latest on Exide battery recycler, blood testing

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will offer free blood testing on a massive scale for lead poisoning to address worries that a Vernon battery recycler has jeopardized the health of hundreds of thousands of residents in southeast Los Angeles, although some activists say the testing is coming five years too late.

The effort, which is likely to stretch from Boyle Heights to Huntington Park, comes amid rising fears about emissions and leaks from the Exide Technologies facility.

Join Times reporter Jessica Garrison at 9 a.m. to discuss the blood testing announcement by the health department and what effect it may have.

The testing isn’t part of a scientific study but a public service for anyone who wants it. That will be of little use in tracing any high lead levels back to a particular source or showing that the plant caused any harm. There are multiple sources of lead, and in communities such as Boyle Heights, Maywood and Huntington Park, the housing stock is old and full of lead paint.

Blood levels are a good measure of lead exposure in the previous four months, but they are not as reliable for looking at chronic exposure. Lead can accumulate in the bones and remain there for decades, though some does seep into the bloodstream. Bones can be sampled for lead content, but such tests are difficult and costly.

And though the scope of the testing is potentially vast —Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman Bernadette Burden called the possible magnitude “unprecedented” — it is unclear how many people will take advantage of it .

The testing, which was announced Thursday, could come as early as next month.