Jump to main content.

EPA Lead Program Grant Fact Sheet

EPA's Targeted Lead Grants

EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds projects in areas with high incidences of children with elevated blood-lead levels in vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency awarded more than $5.2 million in grants under this ambitious program. These targeted grants are intended to address immediate needs of the communities in which they are awarded, and will also highlight lead poison prevention strategies that can be used in similar communities across the country.

EPA's lead program is playing a major role in meeting the federal goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by 2010, and the projects supported by these grant funds are an important part of this ongoing effort. According to the Centers for Disease Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million children in the US with elevated blood lead levels. By 2002, that number had dropped to 310,000.

Gainesville, FL - Outreach to Urban and Rural Florida Counties

EPA has selected the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, for a Targeted Lead Grant.

The University will increase public awareness of childhood lead poisoning through culturally appropriate messages in two urban and two rural Florida counties.

These counties have the highest levels of pre-1978 homes in Florida and the highest percentages of children under the age of 6 living in poverty in Florida. Newly confirmed cases of children with elevated blood lead levels were identified in all of the 2005 screenings events.

EPA's grant funds will be used to:

The partnership with the University of Florida's Food and Agricultural Sciences and Florida Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program will enhance the distribution and exhibition of lead educational materials.

For more information about EPA's Lead Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD.

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.