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IN THIS ISSUE:
This edition of the Alliance Alert is our first as the Alliance for Healthy
Homes. Our new name reflects the expansion of our work on lead poisoning
prevention to address other housing-related health hazards. We will continue
to build upon our work to protect children from lead hazards in their
homes. We have concluded that new strategies are needed to address the
persistent high prevalence of lead poisoning in low-income communities
of color despite the dramatic decline in national prevalence. Properties
that contain the worst lead hazards typically pose other health risks
as well, such as mold, pesticides, respiratory allergens, and carbon monoxide.
Protecting children’s health requires solutions that address all
hazards in their home environment. Addressing lead hazards in substandard
housing offers natural opportunities for tackling additional health hazards
that contribute to higher asthma rates and other health disparities burdening
low-income families.
The Alliance’s evolution emerged from an organizational assessment
begun three years ago. We decided to take stock because we recognized
that while significant progress had been made in reducing lead poisoning,
continuing to do more of what we have historically done cannot achieve
our goal of protecting all children. Our Board voted in June 2001 to embed
the Alliance's core work on lead poisoning in a broader healthy homes
and communities agenda and to provide more proactive support to community-based
and local advocacy organizations. We have been gradually changing our
work in accordance with the expanded mission, most notably through the
Community Environmental Health Resource Center (CEHRC; http://www.cehrc.org).
The Alliance Alert will now appear monthly to cover policy developments,
research findings, funding opportunities, and other news on healthy homes
and lead poisoning prevention. We hope you will find it a useful resource.
In addition, our new website, http://www.afhh.org,
contains a wealth of information on health and housing, including practical
information on how to ensure healthy housing conditions for all. To receive
action alerts on important policy developments or to subscribe to the
Alliance’s list serves, please visit the new site at http://www.afhh.org/aa/aa_subscribe.htm.
Mold continues to be a hot topic in legislatures around the country.
Notable laws adopted during the first half of 2003 include a Texas law
that requires mold assessors and remediators to be licensed, and directs
the Department of Health to educate the public on how to recognize, prevent,
and control mold. Draft regulations for the licensing requirements will
go out for public comment this summer and must be finalized by April 1,
2004. Arizona also adopted a law requiring mold inspectors to be licensed,
and Louisiana passed a law regulating mold remediators.
Texas also adopted a law requiring the adoption of building and performance
standards to reduce mold exposure in residential construction, including
measures to recognize mold, limit water intrusion into homes, and remediate
mold. A third law in Texas mandates prompt handling of water damage claims
filed under residential property insurance policies. New Jersey is considering
a similar law.
Montana adopted a mold disclosure law under which sellers and landlords
may provide a statement informing buyers and tenants of possible health
impacts caused by mold as well as the uncertain state of science in this
area. The statement also provides that the seller or landlord cannot warrant
the absence of mold, and the buyer or the tenant bears responsibility
for determining whether a mold problem is present. Sellers and landlords
are required to disclose the presence of any known mold, and to provide
notice of any known mold tests and/or remediation. If the landlord or
seller complies with these disclosure bligations, they may not be held
liable “in any action based on the presence of or propensity for
mold in the building.” A law adopted in Oregon requires disclosure
of mold and moisture problems, but the law applies only to sales of properties
with four or less dwelling units.
In addition to laws governing licensing, insurance, and disclosure, states
have considered and, in some cases, adopted laws calling for mold-related
issues to be studied and laws pertaining to indoor air quality in schools
and other public buildings.
EPA and HUD have issued a joint updated training course to facilitate
instruction on lead-safe work practices for painters, renovators, and
maintenance personnel. This interactive course provides hands-on step-by-step
activities on how to perform work activities safely to avoid disturbing
lead paint in residential homes, including work area containment, safe
repair methods to minimize lead dust, and hazard clean-up. The course
is HUD-approved for contractors working in federally owned or assisted
housing. EPA strongly recommends this course for anyone working in pre-1978
housing. The course duration is 6.5 hours, making it possible to learn
the information in less than a day or as few as two evenings. This latest
interagency collaboration offers the nation a widely accepted and practical
curriculum for making lead safety the standard of care in all work projects
in older homes. Visit http://www.epa.gov/lead/epahudrrmodel.htm
or http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/training/rrp/rrp_course.cfm
for to view the course.
On June 20, the Los Angeles City Council officially enacted a pilot program
designed and sought by local advocacy groups to address lead paint hazards
in older homes and apartments. The program is based on a new state law
known as Senate Bill 460 that makes any lead-based paint hazard a housing
violation. The state law authorizes code enforcement officials as well
as health officials to cite owners and order safe repairs. Previously,
property owners were not required to address lead until after a child
became lead-poisoned. Los Angeles is the first city in the state to implement
a program based on the new state law.
The program will begin soon in 5 of the city’s 15 council districts
with the most high-risk homes and expand citywide in about 6 months. The
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles Housing
Department, and nonprofit organizations will collaborate in this effort.
The program will be funded from existing city housing funds and possibly
a grant offered through Proposition 46, the state housing bond. City housing
inspectors will issue orders to landlords to safely repair deteriorated
paint detected through lead swab testing. If an owner is discovered using
unsafe work practices, the inspector may issue an order to stop work or
to conduct the cleanup safely, and the city may prosecute recalcitrant
owners.
For more information, contact Linda Kite, Coordinator, Los Angeles Healthy
Homes Collaborative at lkite@psr.org
or 213-386-4901.
The Community Environmental Health Resource Center, a project of the
Alliance in collaboration with local leaders throughout the country, filled
three vacancies on its 7-member Local Leadership Council (LLC) in early
June. The LLC provides oversight and direction to ensure CEHRC’s
accountability and responsiveness to grassroots organizations. We welcome
two new members to the CEHRC Local Leadership Council: Kim Foreman of
Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland, and Kathleen Overr of the Legal
Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Greg Luce of Project 504 in Minneapolis,
a founding LLC member, was reelected to a second term. CEHRC’s other
LLC
members are Marcheta Gillam Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati, Amy McLean
Salls Connecticut Citizen Research Group, Leticia Ayala, Environmental
Health Coalition (San Diego), and Wayne Rawlins, Community Development
Consultant.
In April, four organizations receiving CEHRC scoping grants held a 2-day
conference in Research Triangle Park, NC. Representatives from Durham
Affordable Housing Coalition, Greensboro Housing Coalition, Lumbee Regional
Development Association (Pembroke, NC) and Improving Kid’s Environment
(Indianapolis, IN) gathered along with others from local collaborating
groups and allies to build skills and share information and strategies
about effective advocacy for healthy housing. In June, CEHRC’s California
Scoping Grantees - Asian Pacific Environmental Network (Oakland), Pacoima
Beautiful (Los Angeles) and St. Peter’s Housing Committee (San Francisco)
- held a similar 2-day meeting with CEHRC implementation grantee Environmental
Health Coalition (San Diego) and representatives from organizations that
belong to the Los Angeles Healthy Homes Collaborative. Chicago was the
backdrop for the CEHRC Implementation Grantee cross-site sharing meeting
held June 26-29. In addition to learning about and celebrating the many
accomplishments of the nine organizations during the past year, the grantees
began preparing for the next phase of their projects: using the data they
have collected from their hazard investigations of high-risk homes to
engage in organizing and advocacy for corrective action. For more information
on CEHRC, visit http://www.cehrc.org.
The House VA-HUD FY04 appropriations bill was recently reported out of
Committee. Summaries indicate that the overall funding for HUD's lead
poisoning and healthy homes programs dropped from $175 million to $130
million. Healthy homes grants, Operation LEAP, and technical assistance
were each level funded at $10 million, with lead hazard control grants
taking the cut. This reduction is due, at least partially, to the fact
that the President’s FY04 Budget, which was submitted before final
Congressional action last year, did not take into account Congress’
$50 million addition for the Urban Lead Initiative. We are working to
urge the Senate to restore this funding, based on its historical leadership
role on funding for lead poisoning prevention. However, the ever-tightening
funding caps on domestic discretionary spending will make it more and
more difficult to sustain and increase federal funding for affordable
housing, healthy homes, and lead safety. The House Appropriations Committee
has recommended essentially level funding in FY2004 for EPA and CDC lead
poisoning prevention and healthy homes activities.
In a victory for children's health advocates, the New York State Court
of Appeals unanimously struck down Local Law 38, finding that the 1999
New York City law was adopted without adequate consideration of its potential
environmental and public health impacts. Among its other shortcomings,
Local Law 38 did not include lead dust in the definition of lead hazards.
The New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning sued to have the 1999
law overturned, winning initially at the trial level, only to be reversed
at the mid-level appeal. The decision by the Court of Appeals invalidates
the 1999 law once and for all, and revives Local Law 1, in effect automatically
placing a number of properties in violation of that law's lead hazard
standards. As the litigation has continued, New York's City Council has
been working on a new lead law that would shift more responsibility for
lead hazards to property owners and require the city to ensure more proactively
that lead hazards are addressed. For more information, contact Matthew
Chachere at 212-822-8309 or matthewchachere@nmic.org.
A recent trial conducted by the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental
Health and Disease Prevention Research Center and two community health
centers in East Harlem, New York City, concludes that individually tailored
integrated pest management (IPM) can reduce cockroach infestations effectively,
even in individual units of multi-unit buildings where the entire building
is not implementing IPM practices. The trial also demonstrates that IPM
practices can be implemented for comparable or lower cost than traditional,
chemical applications.
One hundred and thirty-one families were recruited to the trial when
mothers visited either of the health centers for prenatal care. The intervention
group received individually tailored IPM related activities and the control
group received home injury prevention interventions. After six months,
the cockroach levels in the IPM intervention homes declined significantly
from the pre-trial baseline of 80.5% to 39%. The control group levels
remained statistically the same (78.1% baseline to 81.3% after six months).
A more detailed summary of the article can be found on the “Our
Stolen Future” website at http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/oncompounds/pesticides/2003/2003-0703brenneretal.htm.
The abstract for the article, “Integrated Pest Management in an
Urban Community - A Successful Partnership for Prevention” authored
by Brenner, B.L., S. Markowitz, M. Rivera, et al., is available on the
Environmental Health Perspectives website at http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/6069/abstract.pdf.
In the July 1 Federal Register, EPA’s Office of Children’s
Health Protection (OCHP) announced the availability of $360,000 in funding
for collaborative projects between state environment and health agencies
to target environmental triggers that exacerbate asthma symptoms in children.
Priorities for the “Children’s Environmental Health Protection
State Level Collaboration to Address Childhood Asthma Initiative”
culminates from efforts of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS),
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and EPA
to develop a model for state-level action. The state draft action agenda,
Catching Your Breath, is available at http://www.astho.org/pubs/CathcingYourBreathReport.pdf.
EPA expects to fund 9-12 planning and/or demonstration projects for a
period of 18-24 months. Multiple state organizations may submit proposals,
however, EPA will fund only one project in each state during the same
fiscal year. State programs in Region 1 (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI and VT), which
were funded through a separate EPA funding program (Healthy Communities
Grant Program), are ineligible to apply. Proposals under $20,000 or greater
than $50,000 will not be considered for funding. EPA seeks letters of
intent by August 11, 2003. Applicants will be notified by August 22, 2003
if EPA will seek a full proposal. The solicitation notice is available
at http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/grants.htm.
The Environmental Justice and Health Union (EJHU) released a report on
July 28 that reviews by race data from CDC’s Second National Report
on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. The CDC report includes
information on the concentration of 116 chemicals in Mexican Americans,
Non-Hispanic Blacks, and Non-Hispanic Whites. African-Americans and Mexican-Americans
continue to suffer disproportionately from exposure to environmental toxins,
including pesticides, tobacco smoke, PCBs and dioxins, and lead, when
compared with Whites. According to Environmental Exposure and Racial Disparities,
African-Americans are exposed to the highest number of chemicals in the
study, when compared with other racial groups, while both Mexican-Americans
and African-Americans are at higher risk for exposure to less common chemicals.
The report is available online at EJHU’s website, http://www.ejhu.org/disparities.html.
New research concludes that infants who are exposed to high levels of
fungi in their home environment during the first twelve months of their
lives have an increased risk of lower respiratory illness (LRI) during
this time period. Authors Paul C. Stark, Harriet A. Burge, Louise M. Ryan,
et al., followed the LRI (including croup, pneumonia, bronchitis, and
bronchiolitis) of 499 children of parents with asthma/allergies for their
first year of life as related to measured concentrations of in-home fungi.
After controlling for other variables, significant increased relative
risk was found between LRI and high levels of four specific fungi, including
airborne Penicillium and dust-borne Cladosporium. Study authors believe
that the fungi “may increase the risk of LRI by acting as irritants
or through increasing susceptibility to infection.” This article
was published on July 15, 2003 in the American Journal of Respiratory
and Critical Care Medicine. An abstract of the study, “Fungal Levels
in the Home and Lower Respiratory Tract Illnesses in the First Year of
Life,” is available online at http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/168/2/232.
The July 17, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contains
the results of two recent studies pertaining to the use of allergen-impermeable
bed covers in controlling exposure to dust mite allergens. The asthma
study determined that the concentration of house-dust mite allergen in
mattress dust after 6 months was significantly lower in the intervention
group, which received allergen-impermeable bed covers, than in the control
group. However, the asthma study went on to find that after 12 months
there was no significant difference between the intervention and control
groups in mattress dust concentrations of house-dust mite allergen. The
second study related to allergic rhinitis compared house-dust mite allergen
level in the mattresses of intervention and control groups after 12 months
and found a significant reduction from the baseline level of the intervention
group’s dust mite concentration. No significant reduction was seen
in the control group’s dust mite concentrations.
Both studies conclude that despite any detected reductions in participant
exposure to dust-mite allergens, as a single avoidance measure, the use
of impermeable bed covers did not lead to reductions in the clinical symptoms
of asthma and allergic rhinitis observed in study participants. The abstracts
for both studies, “Control of Exposure to Mite Allergen and Allergen-Impermeable
Bed Covers for Adults with Asthma” and “Evaluation of Impermeable
Covers for Bedding in Patients with Allergic Rhinits,” can be accessed
online at http://content.nejm.org/.
A recent article concludes that the development of asthma in individuals
is linked more strongly to exposures from indoor air than to outdoor air
exposures. In an effort to explore the relationship between various environmental
exposures and increase in a child’s risk of developing asthma and/or
exacerbating existing asthma symptoms, author Ruth A. Etzel, M.D. of the
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the School of Public
Health and Health Services at George Washington University, reviewed multiple
factors including outdoor exposures, violence, dust mites, and tobacco
smoke. The study found that dust mites and tobacco smoke both contributed
to and exacerbated asthma symptoms. Dr. Etzel further states that effective
measures do exist to prevent and decrease exposures to these indoor environmental
pollutants. However, more research is necessary to determine whether lessening
the exposures will result in actual reductions in asthma prevalence and
exacerbations. Published in the July 2003 issue of Pediatrics, the abstract
for the article, “How Environmental Exposures Influence the Development
and Exacerbation of Asthma,” is available online at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/112/1/S1/233.
Ellis G. Goldman, former Program Manager in HUD’s Office of Lead
Hazard Control, died recently at age 62. Goldman had worked for HUD since
1978, and previously served on the President’s Commission on Housing.
Before coming to Washington, Goldman taught at Rutgers University and
the Boston Architectural Center and had served as a deputy commissioner
in the Massachusetts Department of Community Affairs. For the past 10
years, Goldman directed HUD’s lead hazard control grants program
with creativity and integrity. Since his retirement from HUD in 2002,
Goldman had been working as a public policy consultant. Goldman was a
native of Portland, ME. His former colleagues at HUD and others who had
the pleasure of working with him will sorely miss Ellis.
Donations in memory of Ellis can be made to Seeds of Peace (Maine program),
370 Lexington Avenue, Suite 401, New York, NY 10017, 212-573-8040. Seeds
of Peace is a camp in Maine that brings together young Israelis and Arabs
to promote friendship and understanding.
The Alliance wishes to thank Ellen Moss, childhood lead poisoning prevention
advocate, for her generosity in dedicating the celebration of her 50th
birthday to raise money to support the Alliance’s lead poisoning
prevention efforts. This was truly a high honor. We also want to thank
Ellen’s many friends and family who supported the Alliance through
financial contributions. Ellen staffs the Lead Information Clearinghouse
(1-800-424-LEAD).
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