Does Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Work?"
by Catherine Staes, BSN,MPH and Richard Rinehart, SM, CIH

Older homes are the primary source of lead hazards for young children.

The Center commissioned this independent review of the available scientific evidence on the efficacy of controlling lead-based paint hazards in housing to fill an important gap. At the time the review was written in 1995, a number of studies had been conducted on specific lead hazard controls and how well they reduced blood and/or dust lead levels. For the first time, this report looked at the results of all those studies, to see if there was some commonality in the findings.

When taken as a group, the studies showed that carefully executed hazard control methods are effective in reducing children's blood lead levels and/or the dust lead levels in their houses. The evidence shows that blood lead levels appear to decline anywhere from 6% to 23% over a period of 6 months to a year following hazard control. Another study shows that an 84%-96% decline in dust lead levels can be maintained for at least 3 ½ years following abatement. The studies cover both interim control and abatement strategies, and show both to be effective.

Another comprehensive view of the scientific literature regarding the effectiveness of lead hazard intervention was conducted by Battelle Memorial Institute, in cooperation with the US EPA. This report was also released in 1995. In this report a lead hazard intervention is defined as any non-medical activity that seeks to prevent a child from being exposed to the lead in his or her surrounding environment. An intervention, therefore, may range from the in-home education of parents regarding the dangers of a young child's hand-to-mouth activity to the abatement of lead-based paint. Interventions include activities that attempt to remove or isolate a source of lead exposure, as well as activities that attempt to reduce a child's lead exposure by modifying parental or child behavior patterns. This report is available through the Government Printing Office, document number EPA 747-R-95-006, July, 1995.

Since the time of these reviews, numerous other studies on specific lead hazard controls and strategies have been conducted. Two of the larger ones are evaluation of the HUD Lead Hazard Control Grant Program discussed elsewhere on this web site, and the Lead-Based Paint Abatement and Repair and Maintenance Study in Baltimore, conducted cooperatively by the Kennedy Krieger Research Institute, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and the US EPA.

For more information, you may visit the EPA web site at www.epa.gov.

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