Long delays found in making homes "lead-safe"

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite laws designed to rid homes of hazardous lead sources, many children with lead poisoning continue to live in unsafe conditions well after the danger is detected, a new study suggests.

In a study that followed 382 Wisconsin children with elevated blood lead levels, researchers found that it often took more than 18 months for the children's homes to be made "lead-safe."

In only 18 percent of cases was the lead clean-up done within 6 months, the study authors report in the American Journal of Public Health.

"There's no good reason for children with elevated lead levels to be exposed for more than six months," said Dr. Kristina M. Zierold, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

"That's a terribly long time," she told Reuters Health.

In most U.S. states, cases of high lead levels among young children are reported to a state surveillance system. From there, it's usually the job of the local health department to inspect the child's home -- the most likely source of the lead exposure. Deteriorating lead-based paint, which is still present in some older homes and apartment buildings, is a chief source.

If a home has hazardous lead levels, officials issue an order that the lead source be completely removed or otherwise addressed -- by covering lead-based paint, for instance.

However, the new study suggests that these orders often take far too long to become reality. Overall, 45 percent of children lived in homes that took more than 18 months to be deemed lead-safe, and African-American children were particularly likely to face such long delays.

This racial gap, according to the researchers, may stem from the fact that many black children live in urban, lower-income areas -- typically in rented apartments, where it's the landlord's responsibility to address lead problems.

Indeed, a majority of the children in the study lived in rental units, Zierold said.

Lack of money is probably one reason driving the delays, according to the researcher. Even landlords, she noted, may not have the money to quickly clean up lead problems, and there's no national program to help them pay.

There was, however, some good news in the findings, Zierold said. Between 1996 and 1999, the percentage of homes that took longer than 18 months to become lead-safe declined substantially, from 61 percent to 24 percent.

Though that drop is promising, she and her colleagues say more needs to be done to reduce children's exposure to lead in the home.

Parents of high-risk children, Zierold said, should be sure to have them screened for high lead levels starting at 6 months of age. "High-risk" includes children from low-income families, and those living in rental units or any dwelling built before 1978.

She said parents who are having trouble getting their landlord to clean up lead problems can contact their local health department or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, February 2006.