By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

New, tougher regulations on exposure to lead have been implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA Region 7 Administrator, Jim Gulliford, tells reporters at a St. Joseph news conference research has proven even small amounts of lead can prove harmful to young children.

“And that’s why today EPA is announcing significantly new and more strict standards for lead dust in homes built before 1978 along with schools and child care facilities as well to protect, again, children in those early developmental years from exposure to lead,” Gulliford says.

The EPA states the United States has greatly reduced the risk of lead exposure to young children, from birth to age six, since the 1970s. New studies though indicate there is no real safe level of lead for such young children. The EPA is lowering the dust-lead hazard standards from 40 micrograms of lead per square foot to 10 on floors and from 250 micrograms to 100 on window sills in buildings built prior to 1978, when lead was banned from paint.

The EPA will work with St. Joseph city officials to educate the public on the threat of lead contamination, especially to the growth and development of children. The EPA reports lead-contaminated dust from chipped or peeling lead-based paint can lead to elevated blood lead levels in children.

Gulliford says the standards have been tightened to protect the very young.

“So, infants and young children especially vulnerable to lead paint exposure because their growing bodies absorb more lead than us as adults and their developing brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead,” according to Gulliford.

Gulliford says the EPA is working with contractors on the issue, especially those who work in renovation of older homes. He says the agency is also attempting to help homeowners who do their own work on how best to prevent lead exposure.