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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.
Chicago, Illinois - Outreach Toolkit for Local Health Departments
EPA has selected the University of Illinois School of Public Health in Chicago, IL for a Targeted Lead Grant.
The goal of this project is to distribute to local health departments throughout Illinois a program to promote lead safe work practices through local hardware stores and paint retailers.
The School of Public Health will:
- Develop a toolkit for health departments to provide outreach on lead-safe work practices to hardware and paint stores;
- Provide training and technical support for those health departments implementing the outreach plan.
The purpose of the project is to 1) educate hardware store employees and customers, particularly do-it-yourselfers and small contractors, on lead-safe work practices; and 2) bring hardware stores and paint retailers into compliance with the new Illinois law requiring them to post signs or offer brochures in stores where paint supplies intended for paint removal are sold.
This outreach program will be built on the success of a current pilot project in the City of Chicago. The protocol developed can be adapted for specific communities and is expected to be easily replicable throughout the nation. The program materials will be made available on the internet so that information on methodology, program implementation and the toolkit will be available at no charge.
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.