The Orange County Health Department announced earlier this month $1.4 million has been granted to the agency from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove toxic lead paint in homes of low-income residents, according to a May 11 press release.
The funding has been awarded to a local nonprofit—Azure Community Development—which will lead the removal service for free and facilitate the process for which homes are chosen.
To qualify, the home must have been built in the county before 1978, the family must meet low-income status, and there must be a child under six or a pregnant woman living in the home that could be exposed to the toxins.
The property can be owner-occupied or rented to be eligible. Toxins will be removed from both the exterior and interior of the home.
Azure partners with the county health agency for the state-funded Childhood Lead Poison Prevention Program—dedicated to eliminating children’s exposure to unsafe lead poisoning.
Peeling, chipped, or damaged lead paint is a health hazard that can cause brain, nerve, and organ damage and can create learning disabilities and behavioral issues in exposed children.
Despite a long list of detrimental effects, exposure can only be determined with a blood test.
According to the World Health Organization, 143,000 people die each year across the globe from lead poisoning, a major contributor being lead paint.
“Since there is no safe level of lead exposure, it is important to identify and remove any trace of lead in homes,” the press release stated.
Lead-based paint, which was developed to create a wider variety of pigments and colors and to quicken the drying process, was banned in homes in the United States in 1978 due to health concerns.
