Elevated Blood Lead Levels In Delaware

Map of Elevated Blood Lead Levels In Delaware

 https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/map/10401-elevated-blood-lead-levels?loc=9&loct=2#115/any/false/false/2424/8058/20083/Orange/

 

The bill that establishes the new Lead Paint Program that will abate lead paint in homes of children with documented elevated blood lead levels, SB 9 w/ SA 1, is on the House Agenda for a floor vote Today!  

Please help remind our legislators this morning that this bill is important and needs to pass.  You can find your Representative’s contact information here:  https://legis.delaware.gov/Chambers/House/AssemblyMembers 

What SB 9 does:

• Creates the necessary structure in a new Delaware Lead-Based Paint Program to provide lead abatement of housing of children with already-documented elevated blood lead levels.  

• The funding for this program is already allocated in the Governor’s FY 2024 budget, which has been approved by both chambers.

• On May 5, 2023 DHSS applied for HUD funding to provide additional future budget support for lead abatement.  

• Prohibits landlords of properties where the State has paid for lead-based paint abatement from raising rents on those properties for a period of 3 years. 

• SA 1 Clarifies that the owner of any multi-unit property or property that has been rented to a third party may pay the Delaware State Lead-Based Paint Program’s costs of abatement or remediation and, if the owner does so, the prohibition on rental fee increases does not apply to the owner.

• Ensures that neither landlords nor local governments present unreasonable delays to the abatement of lead-based paint. 

• Creates a dedicated fund for abatement and remediation of lead-based paint hazards so that all levels of state government can be held accountable for funding lead-based paint abatement efforts. 

• Expands the duties of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Advisory Committee to include a plan for prompt inspection and, where necessary, abatement or remediation of lead-based paint in all pre-1978 rental properties.

• Provides for necessary transparency and accountability measures, including annual reporting and oversight by the Childhood Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee. 

• Sets the action level for a home inspection to correspond with the recommendations of the CDC’s Blood Lead Reference Value, which was lowered from 5 to 3.5 µg/dL in 2021.

What SA1 Does:

1. Clarifies that the State assumes that when a child has an elevated blood lead level there is exposed lead paint in the house and is, therefore, doing an inspection rather than a risk assessment in the housing unit. 

2. Clarifies that the owner of any multi-unit property or property that has been rented to a third party may pay the Delaware State Lead-Based Paint Program’s costs of abatement or remediation and, if the owner does so, the prohibition on rental fee increases does not apply to the owner.

Lead abatement is a good investment:

Research published in Environmental Health Perspectives (2009) conservatively determined that in addition to the direct benefits of lead poisoning prevention on childrens’ health, each dollar invested in lead paint hazard control results in a return of $17–$221.  Investment in lead poisoning prevention increases IQ, lifetime earnings, and tax revenue, and reduces spending on special education and criminal activity.”

Incidence of childhood lead poisoning in Delaware:  

In the five-year period between 2017 and 2021, Delaware has documented 1306 children with elevated blood lead levels above the CDC’s Blood Lead Reference Value of 3.5 µg/dL.  The Kids Count Data Center map of childhood lead poisoning shows this to be a statewide issue affecting every county.  Our testing rates are poor, as many children are still not receiving appropriate mandated screenings.  As screening rates improve, it is expected that more children with lead poisoning will be identified.

Housing is an important piece of the puzzle:

Delaware has not published data on the numbers of children with elevated blood lead levels due to lead dust in housing, and does not perform case management for any children with blood lead levels less than 7 µg/dL.  However, we have some indications from national datasets and other states that lead dust in homes is a significant problem.

The 2021 HUD report “American Healthy Homes Survey II Lead Findings” reports that at a national level, 24.6% of homes built between 1960 and 1977 have lead paint; 65.8% of homes built between 1940 and 1959 have lead paint; and 86.2% of homes built before 1940 have lead paint (Table 4-1; page 25).

The State of Maryland Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Annual Report 2020 describes lead dust and lead-based paint hazards in homes by housing age.  In homes built prior to 1950, 28% have lead dust hazards and 34% have lead-based paint hazards; in homes built from 1950 to 1977, 5% have lead dust hazards and 15% have lead-based paint hazards; and in homes built after 1977, 8% have a lead dust hazards and 5% have a lead-based paint hazards.

We can make a tremendous step towards preventing the continuing exposure of lead-poisoned children with SB9, which also initiates the steps necessary for preventing new cases of childhood lead poisoning in Delaware.