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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.

Cleveland, Ohio - Increasing Methods of Prevention for At-risk Children

EPA has selected the Cleveland Department of Health in Cleveland, Ohio, for a Targeted Lead Grant.

The Department plans to use the grant money to provide training to staff members in childcare centers to collect blood samples within targeted areas of Cleveland that have the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning as well as to educate parents and caretakers.

Cleveland is a major urban area with a documented high incidence of lead poisoning in young children, well above national and state averages. Cleveland also has a high incidence of known risk factors including large numbers of old homes with deteriorating lead-based paint and lead-contaminated bare soil and dramatic rates of unemployment and poverty.

EPA's grant funds are earmarked to provide a lead prevention program that will:

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.

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