Lead exposure: Healthy neighborhoods are free of lead and toxins that undermine safety, health, and well-being.

Insights & Analyses

Nationally, 50 percent of housing units were built before 1980.
Latinx residents, including Latinx children under 5 and especially Latinx immigrants, are particularly exposed to housing with deteriorated lead-based paint.
The share of the population who live in housing with deteriorated lead-based paint varies greatly by ancestry for people of color. For instance, 44 percent of Black people with Cape Verdean ancestry live in a house with deteriorated lead-based paint. In comparison, about 7 percent of Black people with Moroccan ancestry live in a house with deteriorated lead-based paint.
Because the age of housing stock is significantly older in the Northeast, places in this region often rank higher than other geographic regions in residential lead exposure. For example, at least a third of residents in the District of Columbia, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts live in housing with deteriorated lead-based paint.
This trend also translates to higher risk for young children in these states. In the District of Columbia, 46 percent of children under 5 years old live in housing with deteriorated lead-based paint, 36 percent in Rhode Island, and 34 percent in New York.

Drivers of Inequity

Studies have found that lead exposure among children is associated with cognitive disabilities, lowered test scores, and learning difficulties. Exposure to lead can also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. In the United States, sources of lead exposure include deteriorated lead-based paint and the resulting dust, lead service lines that provide drinking water, soil that has been contaminated by lead from gasoline, exterior lead-based paint, mining or smelting facilities, and some imported consumer products. Lead-based paints were banned in 1978, but houses built prior to that may still have lead-based paint. As with many other inequities in the United States, lead exposure is not distributed equally — low-income and households of color are most likely to be impacted. Decades of discrimination in housing and lending policy have segregated more people of color into housing that is older, poorer quality, and thus more likely to have deteriorated lead paint. Environmental racism also forces more people of color to live near industrial facilities that can emit lead and other toxins.

Strategies

Grow an equitable economy: Policies to promote healthy environments for all

Fund programs that provide expertise and financial incentives for residents to identify and remove lead exposure from homes.
Provide grants or low-interest loans for low-income homeowners and landlords to safely remove or remediate lead-based paint and plumbing.
Expand and enforce existing regulations on lead exposure and inspections.
Invest in infrastructure projects that fix and maintain aging housing stock, schools, and childcare facilities.
Increase funding and education for blood lead level testing for children to ensure there is accurate and thorough data.
Implement routine lead testing in schools and childcare centers for both water and environmental sources of lead.
Invest in lead service line replacement projects in both public and private lines, especially in older cities with higher rate of lead in pipe and joining materials.
Support workforce development programs that train local contractors and workers in certified lead-safe practices, which creates jobs while ensuring safe remediation.
Launch public education campaigns to raise awareness about sources of lead exposure, safe renovation practices, and available testing or remediation resources.
Strengthen data sharing and coordination between local and state health departments, housing agencies, and environmental organizations to target high-risk communities more effectively.
Mandate lead safety disclosures during property sales and rental agreements to increase transparency and incentivize mitigation.
Prioritize environmental justice by directing resources to historically underinvested neighborhoods disproportionately affected by lead exposure.

Strategy in Action

Philadelphia takes on reducing lead in rental homes. In 2019, the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania passed an expanded lead safety bill that requires landlords to certify properties to be lead-free or lead-safe in order to receive a rental license and to begin or renew a lease.

In 2012, Philadelphia began requiring landlords to obtain an up-to-date lead certification before renting a housing unit built before 1978 if a child age six or under resides in the property. The 2019 bill expanded coverage to include previously exempted housing, such as Philadelphia Housing Authority and Section 8 housing and rental units without a child aged six years and under.

Since the new requirements were enacted in October 2020, over 108,000 units in Philadelphia have been certified as lead-free or lead-safe. In addition to lead certification for residential units, the City also requires water and environment testing for lead in schools and childcare facilities.

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Photo: Axcordion, Wikimedia