A state health official will speak Tuesday in Augusta about the risks of lead poisoning in southern Kennebec County.

The forum discussion is being organized by Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, a health group that is starting a five-year project to raise awareness about the risks of lead poisoning in the Augusta and Gardiner areas.

Water comes out of a new faucet at Benton Elementary School. The school had high lead levels when their water was tested and have since replaced many of the faucets and water fountains. Portland Press Herald file photo by Brianna Soukup

Lead dust from old paint is the most common way children get lead poisoning, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Augusta recently was deemed a high-risk location for childhood lead poisoning, based on new blood-level standards set by Maine lawmakers in 2015.

Lawmakers approved lowering the standard of lead poisoning from 15 to 5 micrograms per deciliter, the level recommended by federal health authorities.

Under the new standard, an estimated 6.8 percent of children in Augusta had lead poisoning between 2010 and 2014, according to Maine CDC data.

That rate was lower than Lewistion-Auburn’s 8.3 percent, but higher than rates in Portland, Biddeford and Bangor.

Karyn Butts of Maine CDC’s lead poisoning prevention program will speak at 3 p.m. at the Buker Community Center.