Lead Exposure

Key Points About Lead and the Paint Industry

 

The Paint Industry Voluntarily Phased Out Lead Use Decades Ago

  • During the 1940s and 1950s, paint manufacturers essentially discontinued the use of lead pigments in consumer paints, switching to superior substitutes like titanium dioxide (TiO2).
  • In 1954, a voluntary standard to effectively remove lead pigment from consumer paints, Z.66, was developed by the American Standards Association (now known as ANSI). This voluntary standard formed the basis of the first government regulation in 1972, which substantially eliminated the use of lead in paints.
  • The paint industry has publicly supported all Federal legislation and regulation prohibiting the use of lead, including landmark legislation in 1971 and the subsequent 1978 Consumer Product Safety Commission ban.

 

Lead Exposure Comes Mainly From Dust, and Blood/Lead Poisoning Levels Are Dramatically Down

  • The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) findings indicate that blood lead levels (BLLs) continued to decrease in all age groups and racial/ethnic populations. During 1999--2002, the overall prevalence of elevated BLLs for the U.S. population aged >1 year was 0.7%. BLLs in non-Hispanic black children remained higher than in non-Hispanic white or Mexican-American children, although the proportion of BLLs >10 µg/dL in this population decreased (72%) since 1991--1994. Approximately 310,000 children aged 1--5 years remained at risk for exposure to harmful lead levels. Public health agencies should continue efforts to eliminate or control sources of lead, screen persons at highest risk for exposure, and provide timely medical and environmental interventions for those identified with elevated BLLs. According to the NHANES results of, there has been a 78 percent drop in overall blood levels among all Americans between 1976 and 1991
  • Government studies reveal that children become lead-poisoned primarily by hand-to-mouth lead dust ingestion, and only rarely through eating old lead-based paint chips.
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reports show that well-maintained surfaces containing lead paint do not present a health hazard. Interim controls such as "in-place management" have been recognized as valid methods of preventing lead exposure and encapsulation technology provides a feasible, effective abatement strategy for the permanent correction of residential lead hazards.

For additional information see http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/.


CLEARCorps Program is a National Success

In 1995 NPCA, in partnership with the Shriver Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore county, established the Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEARCorps), an organization whose primary mission was (and still is) to protects children from lead poisoning—a major environmental health threat to children in the United States. Since that time, CLEARCorps has grown to become an independent advocacy organization with office in nine states, and an impressive list of accomplishments.

From January 1, 2000 through Jun 30, 2007, CLEARCorps Affiliate staff and corps members:

  • Educated over 319,000 community members about the causes, effects, and prevention of childhood lead poisoning.
  • Evaluated 3375 homes to determine potential lead poisoning hazards.
  • Educated residents and property owners about lead hazards in their homes.
  • Reduced lead poisoning risks for 3,469 children by conducting lead hazard control work in 1,814 homes.
  • Repaired or replaced 17,253 windows.
  • Built 229 raised bed gardens and made 351 yards safer by reducing the risk of lead hazards in soil.
  • Trained over 370 corps members to educate their communities about lead poisoning and conduct lead hazard control work to make homes safer for children.

CLEARCorps has helped advance understanding that most lead poisoned children become so, not by eating paint chips, but by swallowing lead-contaminated household dust through regular hand-to-mouth contact.

  • Lead hazards are greatest in poorly maintained homes, built before 1950, where lead-based paint has been allowed to deteriorate.
  • Lead poisoning harms children and results in increased costs to society.

CLEARCorps works in partnership with families, property owners, community organizations and public agencies to create lead-safe communities.

  • CLEARCorps educates and trains family members, property owners, volunteers, and other community members to identify and eliminate lead hazards in homes.
  • CLEARCorps programs are locally managed by community-based organizations that support and learn from each other as Affiliates in the CLEARCorps National Network.
  • CLEARCorps promotes strong, effective partnerships with community organizations, universities, government agencies, and private industry to protect children from lead poisoning.

CLEARCorps teams control lead hazards in homes to protect children from lead poisoning.

  • CLEARCorps works directly with families and property owners to identify and eliminate lead hazards in their homes.
  • CLEARCorps teams use effective, low-cost solutions to control lead hazards and reduce the risk of lead poisoning.
  • CLEARCorps rigorously evaluates its work to ensure that children are protected.

For more information on CLEARCorps see www.clearcorps.org