Lead Paint in Housing

This paper will review the evidence linking childhood lead exposure to housing, and also report a recent 12-year followup of modern lead hazard control (n=189 homes in four cities) and window replacement. Controlling for covariates such as site, housing condition, presence of lead paint and season using longitudinal regression modeling, adjusted floor and sill dust lead geometric mean dust lead loadings declined at least 85%. Homes with all replacement windows had 41% lower interior floor dust lead, compared to non-replacement homes (1.4 versus 2.4 µg/ft², p<0.001) and window sill dust lead was 51% lower (25 versus 52 µg/ft², p=0.006) while controlling for covariates. The net economic benefit of window replacement compared to window repair (non-replacement) is $1700 - $2000 per housing unit. Implications for primary prevention of lead poisoning, weatherization and trends in the housing market will be examined.