EPA announces new rules to eliminate lead exposure in US homes, childcare facilities

WASHINGTON — While lead paint has been banned from use for years, there are still millions of Americans living in homes that have it.

On Thursday, in honor of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new, stricter rules which it hopes will help eliminate lead exposure for good.

Channel 2 Washington Correspondent Nicole D’Antonio was in Washington to learn more about the latest effort to protect families from the toxic substance.

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There are roughly 30 million Americans living in homes containing lead paint across the United States.

That’s why the EPA announced new rules limiting the amount of lead dust found in homes and childcare facilities built before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paint.

The new limits are being introduced in a bid to bring the acceptable amount of lead down to a near-zero level.

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Ruth Ann Norton, CEO of the Green & Health Homes Initiative, told Channel 2 Action News about how the detection process works.

“If there’s any detection of lead in the home, it is the responsibility of that owner to ensure that that is cleaned up,” Norton said. “It’s a part of doing business. To put properties with a safety standard on the market, [and] lower liability to have safer housing.”

Norton started her national nonprofit to end childhood lead poisoning.

She said there’s no safe level of lead exposure.

The heavy metal is a neurotoxin that can affect brain development in children and lead to lifelong health effects for both kids and adults.

“I think this is simply common sense and how we protect our kids,” Norton said. “Everyone wants kids protected. They are our future, their brains need to function properly.”

A spokesperson for the White House said they expect the new rule to reduce lead exposure for almost 1.2 million Americans each year.

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