Athens County residents with lead paint in their homes can soon find relief from the metal’s potentially toxic effects after the Ohio Department of Health accepted more than $2 million to identify and treat lead hazards in homes.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development granted $2.1 million to prevent lead poisoning in 36 Ohio counties, including Athens County, said Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman Jennifer House.
Grants are available to families and individuals with incomes under 50 percent of the county’s median income, House said.
Athens County’s median income for 2008 was $35,301, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Even though lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978, homes built before 1950 pose the greatest danger for lead poisoning, according to an Ohio Department of Health news release.
Of Ohio’s estimated 906,000 children between 6 months and 6 years of age, about 36 percent live in homes built before 1950, according to the release.
There are 7,091 homes built before 1950 in Athens County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Lead exposure has the greatest effects on children and, depending on the level of exposure, can cause reduced intelligence, learning disabilities, kidney and central nervous damage, coma, convulsions and even death, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
If lead is identified in a home, the only way to ensure that children are not exposed is for the family to move from the house or for the lead to be professionally controlled, according to the release.
Professional lead treatment can cost thousands of dollars, and not every family can afford to protect their children, Ohio Department of Health Director Ted Wymyslo said in the release.
“This grant will give us the ability to assist hundreds of property owners who otherwise could not afford to make these critical changes,” Wymyslo said.
Between 1999 and 2009, Ohio has seen a 73 percent decline in cases of childhood lead poisoning due to outreach prevention and education efforts, according to the news release.
These grants show that providing healthy and safe homes for children is a priority for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Ron Sims, spokesman for the department, in a January news release.
“It’s simple: You can’t be healthy if your home is sick,” Sims said. “There are far too many ‘sick homes’ in our communities, and these funds will target the worst of those homes.”
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