AJPH: Lead Exposure in the Homes of Young Children

The February issue of the American Journal of Public Health published the study "Exposure to Lead and Length of Time Needed to Make Homes Lead-Safe for Young Children," which found that children in Wisconsin with blood lead levels (BLL) of 20 (micro)g/dL or more lived in homes where the median length of time to make the home safe was 465 days or 1.3 years.

This is signifigant because children spend more than 80% of their time indoors. The longer it takes for the home to be deemed lead-safe, the greater the potential hazard to the child. Although abatement orders were sent out, enforcement proved to be very difficult which resulted in 24% of homes requiring more than 18 months before improvements were made. Only 18% of children lived in homes that were rendered lead-safe within six months. White children were more likely than African American children to live in homes that were rendered lead-safe within 6 months (25% vs. 13%) and the majority of African American children lived in urban lower-income communities in which 35% of homes contained lead-based paint hazards compared to that of 19% of upper-income families.

Community efforts made to educate families about lead hazards and incentives for housing owners to join a lead-safe registry have improved the time needed to make homes lead safe but a lot more work needs to be done to reduce delays.

Click here to read the study (subscription to AJPH required)