On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced the final version of a federal rule tightening lead paint dust exposure standards.
The rule, which finalizes a proposal issued last June, will increase the threat level established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for lead dust to the point that any amount detected in a building will be considered hazardous. The agency estimates that under these rules, nearly 1.2 million people would be exposed to lower levels of lead each year, including as many as 326,000 children under the age of six.
Despite a nearly half-century-old ban on lead paint, lead paint remains in about 31 million homes built before 1978, including 3.8 million homes with children under age 6, an EPA official said on a call with reporters . Dust from peeling and peeling paint remains a constant hazard as these structures age, and they are disproportionately located in Black, Latino, and low-income neighborhoods.
The official summarized the final rule as a “zero tolerance standard,” stating that if lead levels exceed that threshold, pollution abatement specialists will be deployed and “their work will not be considered done until they achieve the lowest lead level that our laboratories. reliably detect.”
Lead exposure is associated with low birth weight and impaired brain development and motor skills in children.
“Too often, our children, the most vulnerable residents of already overburdened communities, feel the brunt of the toxic legacy of lead-based paint,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “EPA is taking a leadership role in communities across the country.
“These protections will reduce lead exposure for hundreds of thousands of people each year, helping children grow up healthy and reach their full potential,” Regan continued.
The final regulation comes just weeks after another EPA rule requiring the replacement of all water mains containing lead within the next 10 years, and the standard is expected to prevent 900,000 cases of low birth weight infants and 1,500 premature deaths from heart disease each year.
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