The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partnering with the Ohio Department of Health and the Lorian County Health Department to educate the public in Lorian County, Ohio, on how to protect children from lead-based paint risks, according to a news release.
The agency will contact around 500 local businesses, including home renovation contractors, to share up-to-date information on the lead reduction requirements in the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule. According to the news release, a drop in the number of RRP certifications and re-certifications suggest a portion of the renovation industry is unaware of the RRP rule or does not comply.
RRP requires that when remodelers are working in houses built before 1978 on projects that could disturb lead paint, they must determine whether any lead paint is present and—if they do find presence of the paint or didn’t do a test—must then use certain practices to contain the spread of the lead-paint dust while they perform the remodel. The company doing the work and the renovators following lead-safe work practices both must be certified by EPA-approved training programs.
“Together with the state of Ohio and Lorain County, EPA wants to make sure that people know how to keep children safe from the harmful effects of indoor lead,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp said in a public statement. “Lead from deteriorated lead-based paint—typically found in older housing stock—is a primary exposure pathway for children.”
Reducing childhood lead exposure and addressing associated health impacts has been a top priority for the EPA, and in December 2018, the agency introduced its Lead Action Plan, a blueprint with the stated goals of reducing children’s exposure to lead sources, identifying lead-exposed children and improving their health outcomes, communicating more effectively with stakeholders, and supporting and conducting critical research to inform efforts to reduce lead exposures and related health risks. In June, the agency announced new, tighter standards for lead in dust on floors and window sills. The tighter standards lowered dust-lead hazard standards to 10 micrograms of lead per square foot (µg/ft2) from 40 µg/ft2 for floors and to 100 µg/ft2 from 250 µg/ft2 for window sills.