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.
Detroit, MI - Newborn Lead Prevention Project
EPA has selected the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion in Detroit, Michigan, for a Targeted Lead Grant.
The Department will implement an environmental assessment and lead prevention education project targeted to the parents of newborns. This project will be incorporated into the Detroit Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Program (DCLPP&CP).
DCLPP&CP will address lead poisoning by:
- Providing face-to-face lead prevention and lead safe work practice education for parents of newborn children,
- Increasing lead awareness among infants' primary care physicians,
- Promoting blood lead testing among families with newborns, and
- Providing clients with lead paint inspections in dwellings of children whose blood lead levels exceed 10 µg/dL(micrograms per deciliter of blood), the federal level of concern.
In addition, newborn children in high-risk zip codes in Detroit will be identified through vital records. Lead awareness and testing literature will be attached to the birth certificates of all children born in 2007.
Lead poisoning in Detroit is extremely pervasive: 56 percent of its housing stock was built prior to 1950; there are extremely high unemployment rates; and nearly one-half of the city's children live below the poverty level. In 2005, 9 percent of 1- and 2-year olds tested had EBLs of 10µg/dL, and another 24 percent had EBLs between 5 – 9µg/dL.
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.