We examined whether it is necessary to clean walls and ceilings after lead hazard control (LHC) interventions by comparing dust lead loadings measured on these surfaces before an LHC intervention to dust lead loadings after the intervention.
These interventions provided the opportunity to combine healthy homes interventions and lead hazard control.
There are substantial returns to investing in lead hazard control, particularly targeted at early intervention in communities most likely at risk.
In a high-risk houses intervention study, floor dust levels dropped from 14 μGMft2 (GM) immediately after intervention 4.8 μg/ft2 six years after hazard control [ 59].
Another approach is based on the cost-effectiveness of life-saving interventions in non-medical fields such as occupational health, transportation safety or environmental hazard control, the paper states.
Briefly, interventions were directed at reducing water infiltration, removal of water-damaged building materials, alterations to heating/ventilation/air conditioning, lead hazard control, and environmental cleaning.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines on lead hazard control instruct contractors to clean floors, windows, walls, ceilings, and other horizontal surfaces to remove lead-contaminated dust and debris after lead interventions are conducted.
Furthermore, in the largest and most recent study of lead-based paint hazard control (which addressed lead paint hazards in > 3,000 homes in a dozen jurisdictions), house dust lead levels remained below preintervention levels for at least 3 years following the intervention (National Center for Healthy Housing and University of Cincinnati 2004).
The costs of lead hazard control range from $1.2 to $11.0 billion.
Any costs of lead control interventions are at least partly offset (if not entirely offset, in some circumstances) by the health and economic benefits deriving from reducing exposure; this is a strong argument to continue to investing in lead hazard control.
