The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized more vital requirements for identifying and cleaning lead paint dust in pre-1978 homes and childcare facilities. There is no safe level of lead exposure, particularly for children. In children, lead can severely harm mental and physical development, slow down learning, and irreversibly damage the brain. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function, and may cause cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if someone is impacted by lead exposure, there is no known antidote.

Today’s final rule reduces the level of lead in dust that EPA considers hazardous to any reportable level measured by an EPA-recognized laboratory. The rule also lowers the amount of lead that can remain in dust on floors, window sills, and window troughs after a lead paint abatement occurs at the levels listed below, the lowest levels that can be reliably and quickly measured in laboratories.  This will result in significant reductions in exposure when compared to prior standards. The rule is strengthening these standards from:

• 10 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) to 5 µg/ft2 for floors,

• 100 µg/ft2 to 40 µg/ft2 for window sills, and

• 400 µg/ft2 to 100 µg/ft2 for window troughs.

In addition, the EPA issued a final rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years. The EPA also announced $2.6 billion in newly available drinking water infrastructure funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is available to support lead pipe replacement and inventory projects. Together, these and other actions taken under the Biden-Harris Administration will help protect Americans from exposure to lead.

EPA will host a public webinar to provide an overview of the rule on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Please use the registration link to register for this webinar.

Learn more about EPA’s dust-lead standards and the upcoming public webinar on this final rulemaking.

For further information: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

Here are additional resources for information about the Lead-based Paint Dust Standards: Links to the pre-publication version of the final dust-lead rule, the webinar registration webpage, a white house fact sheet and the EPA website for more information: https://www.epa.gov/lead/hazard-standards-and-clearance-levels-lead-paint-dust-and-soil-tsca-sections-402-and-403 which includes a link to EPA’s fact sheet.

Please note: Cal-OSHA will publish new Construction Lead standards in January 2025.