The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced more than $87 million for public housing agencies (PHAs) to evaluate and reduce residential health hazards in public housing, including lead-based paint, carbon monoxide, mold, radon, and fire safety. Through the Capital Fund Housing-Related Hazards (HRH) and Lead-Based Paint (LBP) Capital Fund programs, HUD is awarding 14 awards totaling $47.7 million under LBP, and 22 awards totaling $40 million under HRH.
“Far too many Americans, specifically children, are living in at-risk conditions, like older homes, exposing them to lead based paint hazards,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “The funding announced today is an integral step in identifying the risks of lead exposure and other health hazards across communities and working towards a future where unhealthy housing is no longer an issue.”
According to HUD’s American Healthy Homes Survey II, more than 34 million homes in America have lead paint somewhere in the building and approximately 3.3 million homes—including more than two million low-income households—across the country have children less than six years of age facing one or more lead-based paint hazards, including more than two million low-income households.
Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this unfortunately results in more than one million children suffering from the irreversible impacts of lead poisoning, including reduced intelligence, behavioral and learning disabilities, and effects on many other body systems. Lead-contaminated dust from chipped or peeling lead-based paint is one of the most common causes of elevated blood lead levels in children. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to lead paint exposure because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Adults with exposure to lead can develop symptoms such as high blood pressure, memory loss and reduced motor skills.
“The negative effects of lead poisoning can be irreversible, and cause learning disabilities, reduced intelligence and life-long health effects in children as well as grave health damage to adults,” said HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard J. Moochie. “This funding will help to remediate housing units with potential lead exposure and protect families in the US and their children–especially families with limited resources in older homes–from lead poisoning and harmful exposure to other hazardous contaminants in their homes.
The funding announced will also help PHAs prepare to comply with the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). NSPIRE improves HUD’s oversight by aligning and consolidating inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs. NSPIRE strengthens HUD’s physical condition standards, and fire safety, carbon monoxide, mold and moisture and lead-based paint are all standards that we enhanced with NSPIRE.
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