Lead Paint
Federal officials have set aside $330 million to clean up lead-based paint and environmental hazards in low-income housing, Inman reports. The allocated money will be available to local governments in the form of grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Grants can be awarded in sums up to $9.1 million for five-year periods, Inman reports.
In total, $12 million has been set aside specifically for cleaning up various hazards in homes on tribal land, while the remaining $324 million will be used to clean up lead-based paint in “high impact neighborhoods”—or places with a lot of pre-1940s homes, low-income families and children with elevated levels of lead in their blood. HUD notes that this is the “largest funding amount ever available to make low-income housing lead safe.”
Lead-based paint was outlawed in the U.S. in 1978. However, it remains common, with HUD estimating that it still represents a “significant” hazard in about 24 million homes that were built before the ban. Exposure to the substance, particularly if it becomes airborne in the form of dust, can lead to a host of health problems in children such as lower IQs, developmental delays, impaired hearing and learning disabilities, among other things.
According to the World Health Organization, exposure to higher levels of lead can also damage children’s nervous systems and cause convulsions, comas or even death. For pregnant women, it can lead to miscarriage, premature birth or low birth weight.
In his statement explaining the decision to devote hundreds of millions of dollars to lead mitigation, HUD Secretary Ben Carson also noted that “your home is a haven from the outside world.”
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