{"id":24795,"date":"2019-06-26T21:57:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T21:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/"},"modified":"2019-08-28T16:10:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T16:10:45","slug":"lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two-year-old Ja-Kobi Hicks clutched his mother\u2019s arm as Yashira Padilla, a medical assistant at the\u00a0WIC clinic<\/a> in Baytown, Texas, pricked his finger during a routine checkup. After filling a tiny vial with the toddler\u2019s blood, she placed the sample in a machine to test for elevated lead levels. Within minutes, the results were negative, and one more child was screened and cleared of an issue that can cause lifelong, debilitating health challenges.<\/p>\n

The screening was part of the new\u00a0Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program<\/a>, funded by the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC) and launched last year by\u00a0Harris County Public Health<\/a> (HCPH). The initiative aims to reduce lead exposure and poisoning in the Greater Houston area through education and intervention.<\/p>\n

Lead poisoning, despite common misconceptions, persists. In 2016, 1,016 children in Harris County tested positive for elevated lead levels, according to the\u00a0latest data available<\/a> from the\u00a0Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)<\/a>. In addition, only about one in five children are screened by age five, so the number impacted is likely higher, said HCPH spokesperson India Ogazi. The agency recommends lead testing by a medical provider at least once for all children six and younger.<\/p>\n

Lead exposure occurs when a child swallows or inhales lead. Most often, this comes in the form of lead-based paint\u2014which was banned for residential use in 1978, but still exists in many of the Houston area\u2019s older homes. Lead is also found in imported toys, spices, jewelry, pottery and cosmetics, and is still used in manufacturing, so parents who work on industrial sites are at greater risk of bringing lead dust into their homes.<\/p>\n

Nathalie Cardona, MPH, the HCPH program\u2019s team lead, said that lead exposure can happen if a child places a dust-exposed toy in his or her mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur advice to parents is to take off those clothes before they come into the home, but the single most important thing parents can do is to watch what [children] put in their mouths,\u201d Cardona said. \u201cThat\u2019s the main source of lead. Wash their hands, wash their toys, and be aware of what they\u2019re putting into their mouths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Individuals who live in houses built before 1978 should also wet-mop their floors, wipe down surfaces with a wet cloth and seal any cracks, Ogazi added. For families who meet certain criteria, HCPH offers a\u00a0lead abatement program<\/a> which provides home-based lead removal services.<\/p>\n

Lead exposure is not immediately noticeable, which is why early screening is so important. Symptoms, which generally emerge later in life, include brain development delays, speech and language problems, slowed growth and damage to the nervous system and\/or kidneys. Lead can also\u00a0affect education outcomes<\/a> and has even been associated with\u00a0increased crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also costly. A new\u00a0web-based tool<\/a>, developed through a collaboration between the nonprofit research and consulting organization\u00a0Altarum<\/a> and the\u00a0Robert Wood Johnson Foundation<\/a>, calculated the cost of lead exposure and estimated that Texas bears an $8.1 billion burden.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ja-Kobi Hicks, 2, is weighed during a routine check-up at the WIC clinic in Baytown, Texas.<\/p><\/div>\n

A second drop of blood<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Texas children with Medicaid are required to be tested for lead by their pediatricians, but HCPH officials have discovered that some physicians are not aware of this requirement. Additionally, most pediatricians will not screen patients who do not have Medicaid, so part of the mission of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is to educate all parents and pediatricians about the screening recommendation: at least once for every children by age six.<\/p>\n

HCPH works with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for the lead poisoning prevention initiative to capture part of the population included in the Medicaid requirement. Currently, the program\u2019s lead screening services are available at two Harris County WIC clinics\u2014the Antoine and Shaver locations\u2014but the organization plans to expand to other WIC offices soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause our umbrella agency is Harris County Public Health\u2014and we are already offering nutrition education and supplemental food services\u2014our clients are very gracious and want to know about it and have been open to receiving it,\u201d said Jolene Norbert-Harrell, HCPH\u2019s WIC program director. \u201cOur lab assistants will do the height and weight measurements that are required by the WIC program, they\u2019ll do the screening for iron deficiency and then they\u2019ll also perform the lead testing, which is just a quick finger prick\u2014just a second drop of blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardona said the WIC component has identified children with elevated lead levels who have received case coordination as well as referral services for follow-up care and home lead abatement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe refer them out to their pediatrician to get a venous test, which will confirm the test,\u201d Cardona explained. \u201cOnce they get a venous confirmation, then they go to their pediatrician and we make sure that their pediatrician is following the guidelines set by DSHS and ensure that they are being re-tested at the recommended time. We also do home visits and educate parents not only on the environmental exposure, but also the dietary piece as well, because we know that a child who is poorly nourished tends to absorb more lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s critical for children with lead exposure to eat the recommended three meals a day, with snacks in between. That diet should be high in iron, vitamin C, and calcium\u2014which helps leech the lead from the system and prevents it from absorbing as well, Cardona said. In addition, once the lead source is removed from the home, it does not remain in a child\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Medical Assistant Yashira Padilla holds up the vials used for lead testing at the WIC clinic in Baytown, Texas.<\/p><\/div>\n

Community-wide solutions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program also works closely with clinical providers to help them with additional steps, including scheduling environmental lead investigations from the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have providers who are doing great at testing for lead, but they\u2019re not necessarily reporting it to the state, and\u2014without that data\u2014it makes it hard to know exactly how many children have elevated lead levels, or if indeed they are being tested,\u201d Cardona said. \u201cSo, we advocate for that and train on the importance of lead screening and the importance of re-testing.\u201d<\/p>\n

To inform the public, the program stays busy with community outreach initiatives such as visiting health fairs, churches, schools, libraries and day cares.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say community-wide problems require community-wide solutions, and this is one example of that,\u201d said HCPH Executive Director Umair A. Shah, M.D., MPH. \u201cIt\u2019s not just the health care provider, but it\u2019s the community-wide aspect of increasing awareness … to really ensure that we are testing, but also that we\u2019re thinking through about how to really accentuate our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-year-old Ja-Kobi Hicks clutched his mother\u2019s arm as Yashira Padilla, a medical assistant at the\u00a0WIC clinic in Baytown, Texas, pricked his finger during a routine checkup. After filling a tiny vial with the toddler\u2019s blood, she placed the sample in a machine to test for elevated lead levels. Within minutes, the results were negative, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[383,3824,3823,1658,3822,3826,3825,3821],"yoast_head":"\nLead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two-year-old Ja-Kobi Hicks clutched his mother\u2019s arm as Yashira Padilla, a medical assistant at the\u00a0WIC clinic in Baytown, Texas, pricked his finger during a routine checkup. After filling a tiny vial with the toddler\u2019s blood, she placed the sample in a machine to test for elevated lead levels. Within minutes, the results were negative, and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TMC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexandra Becker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexandra Becker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alexandra Becker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee892c47c28b157bcf0e4f841b382669\"},\"headline\":\"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\"},\"wordCount\":1158,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"CDC\",\"childhood lead exposure\",\"childhood lead poisoning\",\"Harris County Public Health\",\"lead poisoning\",\"Nathalie Cardona\",\"Umair Shah\",\"WIC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\",\"name\":\"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":798},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"TMC News\",\"description\":\"Leader in Collaborative Medicine and Research\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TMC News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/TMC_News_RGB.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/TMC_News_RGB.png\",\"width\":1303,\"height\":266,\"caption\":\"TMC News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee892c47c28b157bcf0e4f841b382669\",\"name\":\"Alexandra Becker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cb7f70c8bc1f87914b8e0f0e941df05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cb7f70c8bc1f87914b8e0f0e941df05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alexandra Becker\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/author\/alexandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News","og_description":"Two-year-old Ja-Kobi Hicks clutched his mother\u2019s arm as Yashira Padilla, a medical assistant at the\u00a0WIC clinic in Baytown, Texas, pricked his finger during a routine checkup. After filling a tiny vial with the toddler\u2019s blood, she placed the sample in a machine to test for elevated lead levels. Within minutes, the results were negative, and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/","og_site_name":"TMC News","article_published_time":"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":798,"url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alexandra Becker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alexandra Becker","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/"},"author":{"name":"Alexandra Becker","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee892c47c28b157bcf0e4f841b382669"},"headline":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area","datePublished":"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/"},"wordCount":1158,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg","keywords":["CDC","childhood lead exposure","childhood lead poisoning","Harris County Public Health","lead poisoning","Nathalie Cardona","Umair Shah","WIC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/","name":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area - TMC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-26T21:57:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-28T16:10:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/DSC_0868.jpg","width":1200,"height":798},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/lead-poisoning-continues-to-affect-children-across-the-houston-area\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lead poisoning continues to affect children across the Houston area"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/","name":"TMC News","description":"Leader in Collaborative Medicine and Research","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"TMC News","url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/TMC_News_RGB.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/TMC_News_RGB.png","width":1303,"height":266,"caption":"TMC News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ee892c47c28b157bcf0e4f841b382669","name":"Alexandra Becker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cb7f70c8bc1f87914b8e0f0e941df05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cb7f70c8bc1f87914b8e0f0e941df05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alexandra Becker"},"url":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/author\/alexandra\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}