Stimulus
Proposal Allocates Lead and Healthy Homes Funds
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (known
as the “stimulus” bill) was passed by the House on Jan. 28. A similar
proposal is currently under consideration in the Senate in the form of an amendment
to the House’s proposal (S.Amdt.98). Both versions would significantly
increase funding related to healthy housing directly and indirectly. The stimulus
would add an additional $100 million for HUD’s lead grant programs and
significantly increase funding for energy efficiency retrofits in project-based
HUD-assisted housing, the Community Development Block Grant Program, the HOME
Investment Partnerships block grant program, the Neighborhood Stabilization
Program, public housing capital funds, and other housing programs that would
expand the supply of decent and affordable housing. The Alliance, along with
the National Center for Healthy Housing and the Children’s
Health Forum had offered a stimulus bill proposal to the Obama transition team
to fund both lead and healthy homes treatments.
The House version gives wide discretion to HUD for determining
the allocation of the $100 million for lead, with the exception that $30 million
is to be spent “on a competitive basis for areas with the highest lead
paint abatement needs.” The Senate version specifically instructs HUD
to first focus the dollars on lead hazard control grants that were deemed eligible
(scored at least 75 points) but were not funded in 2008 as a mechanism to help
ensure money flows out of HUD quickly. Any remaining funds would then be added
to HUD’s appropriations for 2009 lead hazard control grants. Both the
House and Senate versions also contain a section allowing part of the $6 billion
allocated to school facilities to be used for lead abatement and other indoor
environment improvements at public schools. Additional sections of the bills
increase weatherization and green building funds, which may also have some healthy
homes impacts.
As the Alert goes to press, bipartisan group of Senators
who are reluctant to support the now nearly $900 billion bill are reportedly
bargaining for cuts among provisions that would not boost the economy in the
short term. Republican leaders in the House specifically mentioned the $100
million for reducing lead hazards as an example of “wasteful”
appropriations in the bill. Advocates are encouraged to contact
their representatives to voice support for the inclusion of the lead abatement
money in the stimulus bill. The Alliance, National
Center for Healthy Housing, and the Children's Health Forum have produced a
letter urging lawmakers to keep
lead paint funding in the stimulus.
To check on the changing status of the proposals
in the coming days, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/
and search for HR.1 or S.Admt.98.
Lead
in DC’s Water: New Study Shows Children’s Blood Lead Level Increased
2001-2004
A peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science
and Technology on Jan. 26 by researchers from Virginia Tech and the Children’s
National Medical Center concludes that thousands of young District of Columbia
children had elevations in their blood lead levels during a 2 ½ year
period between 2001 and 2004 when water lead levels in the City were staggeringly
high. The study’s conclusions contradict earlier statements and studies
from paid consultants of the DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA),
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the DC Department of Health
that showed no changes in BLLs >= 10 and only small increases of children
with BLLs >=5. The earlier papers have been widely cited by DC WASA and numerous
government agencies as evidence that the increased lead levels in DC tap water
were relatively inconsequential.
The new study correlates DC WASA water lead level monitoring
data from 2000 through 2007 with more than 28,000 blood lead tests for DC children
performed at Children’s National Medical Center between 1999 and 2007.
The blood lead tests were analyzed by zip code and focused on children 1.3 years
of age or younger, a group considered at greatest risk of lead exposure from
consuming infant formula made from tap water. Compared with blood lead data
from 2000, the percentage of youngest children with elevated blood lead levels
(>=10) increased in 2003 at the peak of the water lead crisis by a factor
of 2.4 in four zip codes with the greatest proportion of lead service lines.
The percentage of young children with elevated blood lead levels also increased
slightly in the zip codes with an intermediate concentration of lead service
lines and actually decreased in the zip codes with the fewest lead lines –
just as blood lead levels nationally decreased during the same period.
The new study and the reactions of officials to it
have been extensively covered in the Washington Post and it will be the subject
of a DC City Council public hearing on Feb. 10. Advocates also hope the study
renews official interest in ensuring that DC’s water is safe today, strengthening
oversight of DC WASA, and fixing shortcomings in federal water safety regulations.
A detailedsummary
of the study is available. Links to press coverage and other information
are available at www.dcwasawatch.blogspot.com.
Furthermore. a PowerPoint
presentation authored by Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives, Clean
Water Action, and the Alliance in September 2008 outlines the continued need
for independent testing of DC's drinking water.
EPA
Receives Support for CARB-Like Formaldehyde Regulation; Adds Hearing in New
Orleans & Extends Comment Period
As announced in the December Alliance
Alert, in response to a petition from the Sierra Club signed
by dozens of organizations including the Alliance, the EPA has started rule
making to address the hazards of formaldehyde emissions from composite wood
products. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has already established
a standard that greatly lowers formaldehyde emissions
for products sold in California.
Although the dangers of formaldehyde, a respiratory irritant
and potential carcinogen, became household knowledge as a result of the “toxic
trailers” given by FEMA to hundreds of thousands of evacuees following
hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the hazards are more widespread. Composite wood
products, widely used in construction and in the manufacture of furniture and
other household goods, may release formaldehyde vapors from the glues or resins
that hold the wood pieces or chips together.
The Alliance, Sierra Club, and National Center for Healthy
Housing are encouraging the EPA to adopt California’s stringent standard.
Hammered out over a seven-year period, the CARB standard is acknowledged by
both health advocates and the industry as being one of the toughest formaldehyde
standards in the world. To help ensure meaningful compliance, the standard also
created a rigorous third-party testing and certification process. Most domestic
manufacturers of composite wood products are well aware of the California standards
and are already in or nearly in compliance with its requirements.
Indeed, at the public hearings to date, the EPA has heard
from a wide range of domestic manufacturers who support federalizing the CARB
standard. In addition to addressing health concerns and reassuring their customers
of the products’ safety, the regulation could provide an advantage to
domestic manufacturers who are ready to comply over foreign imports. This, in
turn, has resulted in support for the regulation from organized labor.
Responding to public pressure to ensure input from the
Gulf Coast communities most burdened by the “toxic trailers,” the
EPA announced the addition of a hearing in New Orleans on March 4th. Additionally,
EPA extended the time for public comment until March 19th.
The Alliance’s testimony is available here,
and comments can be submitted to regulations.gov
using docket number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2008-0627.
Consumer
Product Safety Commission Delays Parts of New Child Product Safety Rule
On Jan. 30, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
voted for a one year stay of enforcement for certain lead and phthalates testing
and certification requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
that apply to manufacturers and importers of products intended for children
12 years old and younger. Child product makers will still have to meet strict
new limits on lead and phthalates, but CPSC will delay for a year a requirement
for companies to test their products to verify compliance. The stay applies
to testing and certification requirements for children’s products that
were scheduled to go into effect on February 10, 2009, that limit total lead
content to 600 ppm (to be lowered to 100 ppm in steps by August 2011) and limit
phthalate content for certain products to 1000 ppm. Painted objects, cribs,
pacifiers, and jewelry were not included in the stay and still must comply and
have third party certification. All other children’s
products are prohibited from having more than 600 ppm of lead and 1000 ppm of
phthalates, but are not subject to the testing requirements.
On Jan. 28 the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
and a coalition of business trade groups formally asked for a delay of the Feb.
10 effective date for the new lead content limit in children’s products,
but at press time CPSC had not ruled on this request. Meanwhile, the Coalition
for Safe and Affordable Childrenswear joined with NAM this month to launch an
advertising campaign asking Congress to extend the Feb. 10 deadline for the
product safety regulations as additional six months, calling the rules “job-killing”
and “impossible to meet.”
CPSC is also considering exemptions for components or materials such as untreated
wood or inaccessible parts. In recent weeks, a series of affected groups have
come forward to ask for exemptions or clarification about requirements, including
resale shops and jewelry sellers.
Some business groups were unhappy with CPSC’s
delay because many major retailers are already requiring suppliers to test their
products to show they meet the new lead and phthalate standards. Child health
advocates expressed frustration with the length of the delay for enforcement
of testing requirements. CPSC’s press release announcing the delay is
available at www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html.
HUD
Cancels Some Lead NOFAs; Breaks-up SuperNOFA
The Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control at
HUD has decided not to issue NOFAs for the Operation Lead Elimination Action
Program (LEAP), Lead Outreach Program, or Lead Technical Studies Program in
2009. The LEAP program allowed non-profit and private sector entities to leverage
outside funding with HUD dollars to conduct lead hazard control activities,
the outreach program funded community training and awareness activities, and
the lead technical study program funded research into the source and control
of lead hazards. HUD issued no public statement regarding this change, but simply
published a list of NOFA releases that excluded these programs. The Alliance
confirmed that this did indeed mean these three programs would not be offered
in 2009. The money traditionally allocated to these NOFAs will be included in
the other OHHLHC NOFAs. The LEAP, Outreach, and LTS
programs were all funding opportunities accessible to non-profit entities, rather
than only units of government like the lead control/demonstration grants.
In a positive change, HUD also announced that NOFAs would
be released program by program in 2009, rather than as a single “SuperNOFA.”
This will help ensure timely release of NOFAs, especially those from OHHLHC.
HUD anticipates releasing the Healthy Homes Technical Studies and Lead Control/Demonstration
NOFAs by the end of February and the Healthy Homes Demonstration NOFA by the
end of April. Although due dates have not been announced, it is likely they
will adjust in accordance with the release dates of the NOFAs.
A new funding opportunity, “Green and Healthy
Housing Technical Studies,” was also listed for 2009, with a NOFA scheduled
to be released by the end of April. No further details of this new program were
released by HUD.
Mandatory
Blood Lead Testing Starting in Connecticut
Mandatory universal blood lead testing began in Connecticut
in early January. The new legislation, requires all primary care providers
to perform annual blood lead testing of all children less than three years of
age and any child between the ages of 36 and 72 months who has not been previously
screened.
Under the new law, local health departments will conduct
epidemiological investigations and lead inspections to identify sources of lead
exposure for children with blood lead levels that are greater than or equal
to 15 micrograms per deciliter. The local director of health will order abatement
or remediation of any sources of lead exposure that are identified and will
use State funding to support these additional activities.
While universal blood lead testing has positive impacts
on the fight against lead poisoning, the Alliance urges states to recognize
the goal must be prevention, rather than waiting to treat disease after it develops.
Prevention requires viewing the home as the vector of disease and taking safeguards
to identify and control lead-pasted paint hazards before children are poisoned.
Rhode
Island Holds Summit on Carbon Monoxide
Last November fire departments, state and local housing
and building officials, healthy housing advocates and area Emergency Departments
met under the guidance of the RI Department of Health, RICOSH, the RI Fire Marshal,
the DOA Energy Office, and the RI Medical Society
to collaborate on a Carbon Monoxide Task Force to help formalize how to best
address the challenges that CO presents.
One outcome of the summit was a document outlining the
prevalence of carbon monoxide poisoning in Rhode Island, as well as a Healthy
Housing Agenda, outlining effective ways to reduce exposure to carbon monoxide,
including:
-Operating CO Detectors properly located.
-Proper installation, maintenance, functioning and inspection of heating system.
{Furnaces, chimneys or flues, vent pips, back drafting (changes in air pressure),
undamaged furnace exchangers.}
-Exterior venting for stoves, grills, dryers and space heaters.
-Sealed combustion or direct-vented appliances.
-Prohibit motor vehicle idling in and near housing air intakes/plenums.
For more information on the Rhode Island Carbon Monoxide
Task Force, contact RICOSH.
Continuing
Push for International Ban of Lead-Based Paint
An international group of advocates is continuing efforts
to create a world-wide agreement limiting the use of lead-based paint. Spurred
by recent studies demonstrating the wide spread prevalence of lead in new paint
in Nigeria, China, and India, Occupational Knowledge International launched
an effort to encourage the United States to become a sponsor of an lead-based
paint regulation at the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management
meeting this May in Geneva. Advocates are encouraged to write to Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to help encourage US involvement. Click here for a sample
letter.
Research
Briefs
Housing Improvements Benefit Health
In January the National Center for Healthy Housing released an assessment of
Healthy Homes Interventions showing the ways in which housing Improvements Benefit
Health.
NCHH convened more than 30 of the nation's leading housing and health experts
to document housing and neighborhood improvements (interventions) that are scientifically
proven to improve health and safety. The experts reviewed more than 170 scientific
studies of housing interventions that improve asthma and respiratory problems,
cancer, injuries, and other health concerns. The study highlights a few interventions
ready now for broad-scale implementation, including:
*Lead hazard control to prevent lead poisoning
*Integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce asthma
and pesticide exposure
*Comprehensive and tailored home-based asthma interventions
*Active sub-slab depressurization to reduce lung-cancer from radon gas
*Smoke alarm installations to prevent injuries and death from residential fires
Effects of Pesticide Exposure
on Pregnancy
An article in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine concludes that women with potential exposure to
pesticides at work or at home took longer to get pregnant than women without
pesticide exposure. Pregnant women from a migrant farmworker community who worked
in agriculture, lived within 200 feet of agriculture fields or used pesticides
in their home took significantly longer to conceive than those who did not have
these pesticide exposures. Past studies found a relationship between pesticides
and male fertility, including effects on sperm health and longer time to pregnancy,
but few studies explored how pesticide exposure affects women's ability to get
pregnant. The article abstract is available at www.joem.org/pt/re/joem/abstract.00043764-200812000-00003.htm.
New Screening Tools to Estimate
Home Mold Burdens
An article in the Jan. 2009 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine describes the development of screening tools to estimate the mold burden
in a home to determine whether more detailed testing might be useful. The article
abstract is available at www.joem.org/pt/re/joem/abstract.00043764-200901000-00011.htm.
Additional Evidence of Lead Dust
Emissions from Demolition
A study of lead dust emissions from demolition activities in Chicago published
in the February issue of Environmental Research showed potential for substantial
lead contamination. Nearly five times as much lead was deposited in areas surrounding
active demolition than the background level in residential areas. Although not
statistically significant, there is some evidence that using water spraying
reduced the lead dust emissions. Additional research is underway to better quantify
the problem. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2008.10.010.
Alliance
News
The Alliance is on the road with a mission
to help create more training providers for EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and
Painting (RRP) Rule! With a Prius packed to the brim containing training materials
and hands-on demonstration supplies, Patrick MacRoy and Ralph Scott drove up
to Trenton, New Jersey in late January to conduct the Alliance’s first
course offering of RRP “Train-the-Trainer”, proving it a great success.
The Alliance created this course to help organizations become accredited trainers
under EPA’s new RRP rule that goes into effect April 2010. The next class
is scheduled for February 16-17th in Atlanta, GA (in partnership with the NeighborWorks
Training Institute). Followed up by Raleigh, NC (Feb 26-27), Denver, CO (March
11-12), Richmond VA (March 23-24), Orlando, FL (April 27-28), and Phoenix, AZ
(May 4-5). Due to high demand, the Denver training has been sold out. Visit
the Alliance’s website for updates
on the dates and locations for these classes. To register for a
class, or for more information, contact Patrick MacRoy at pmacroy@afhh.org.
The Alliance thanks Nina Dutton for her work preparing the materials for this
course! Nina is a student in Emory’s program of Environmental Studies
who worked as a volunteer intern for the Alliance this January.
The separate website for the Alliance's Community
Environmental Health Resource Center (CEHRC), CEHRC.org, now brings viewers
to the Alliance home page. Frequently used material from CEHRC.org is still
available. Over the next few months, we will be working to better
integrate the materials that were on CEHRC.org into the other sections of afhh.org.
Please e-mail us if there
is something from the former CEHRC.org you need but cannot locate.
Upcoming Events
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public
Health will be hosting its First Annual Minority Health in the Midwest Conference,
"Minority Health in a Global Community: Midwestern Perspectives on Health,
Poverty, and the Environment"
February 27, 2009. This conference will highlight the work of emerging scholars
and researchers. Topics should reflect minority health
in the Midwest. Registration is free. Conference and registration info is available
at: www.publichealthlearning.com/Public/Announcements/default.aspx#announcement203
A national conference on “Approaches to Managing Mold in Buildings”
will be held April 27-29, 2009, in Orlando, FL. Sponsored by the University
of Tulsa, the conference will cover the “latest research and applied outcomes
to use in field practice from key national and international experts.”
For more information, visit www.utulsa.edu/iaqprogram
or call 918-631-3088.
The 2009 National Lead Poisoning Prevention and Healthy
Homes Conference will occur April 28-May 1, 2009, in Orlando, FL. The conference
will provide a wealth of information and a series of panel discussions from
healthy homes professionals and advocates. For more information, see www.LeadMoldConferences.com.
Save the date for the symposium entitled “Promoting
Environmental and Policy Change to Support Healthy Aging,” to be held
Sept. 15-16, 2009, in Chapel Hill, NC. This symposium is a third in a series
funded by CDC's Healthy Aging Program. More information on this symposium can
be found at www.prc-han.org.
Save the Date for the 2009 National Environmental Public
Health Conference: Healthy People in a Healthy Environment, October 26-28, 2009,
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA.
