Daily Real Estate News  |  October 29, 2007  |   Health Experts Push for Window Replacement Program
Public health experts in lead poisoning are pushing for a national program that would mandate replacement of original windows in every house built before 1960.

The U.S. government banned lead paint in 1978, and U.S. oil companies began phasing out leaded gasoline in 1975. Since then, the percentage of children with high levels of lead in their blood has plummeted from 88 percent in the 1970s to 1.6 percent in 2005.

But lead still harms an estimated 310,000 children in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Lead poisoning can lead to lower IQs, severe learning difficulties, behavioral problems and even death. Researchers have found that children exposed to lead are more likely to end up with juvenile and adult criminal records.

Replacing windows that spread lead dust when they are raised and lowered is a “no-brainer," says Ruth Ann Norton of the Baltimore-based Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, which since 2000 has been pushing for a sweeping window-replacement program. "It can be the difference between sending (children) to the hospital or sending them to college."

A window replacement program is already in place in Milwaukee. The city pays homeowners $160 a window to repair or replace them. Landlords also can take advantage of the program — unless they delay and a child in their building turns up with an elevated blood lead. Then the landlord must pay the costs. If he fixes that property, he's eligible for city aid for other properties. If a landlord refuses to do the work, the city can get a court order to do it and bill him.

Source: USA Today, Greg Toppo (10/29/2007)