By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Nov. 21 the Maine State Housing Authority will receive $3 million of $131 million in grants awarded nation-wide to assist in protecting children and families from lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Director Taylor Caswell made the announcement at a residence on Brown Street in Kennebunk. 

“This money will help the state surpass cleaning up 1,000 living units,” Caswell said. “We need to address the issues of lead paint to learn and understand the hazards. This money will help make homes safe and keep kids safe.”

Landlord of the Brown Street residence John Norton recently benefited from similar funds from the Maine State Housing Authority after a child living in one of the two units was tested for elevated lead levels. Norton’s duplex is one of the 790 units throughout the state that has received funding from Maine State Housing Authority since 1998. 

“I wouldn’t have taken on this project if it weren’t for the assistance,” Norton said. 

When he purchased the 130-year-old building from his grandmother a little more than a year ago, Norton said a contractor estimated work to seal off any lead-based paint and replace old windows and doors would cost at least  $80,000 for the two unit building. 

With advice on how to improve the safety of the building, Norton said he was able to do a lot of maintenance work on his own, sealing the majority of surface areas that tested positive for lead-based paint and with financial assistance he could afford to replace the windows and doors. 

The national grant will be matched by $1.3 million in state funds and will be used to reduce or eliminate lead exposure in 280 units, conduct at least 300 paint inspections and risk assessments, as well as host 27 training events and nine educational outreach activities. 

“Protecting our most vulnerable residents — our children — from the dangers posed by lead-based paint is critically important,” said Maine State Housing Authority Director Dale McCormick. 

State toxicologist Andrew Smith said concerns of lead exposure to children are based on their tendency for “hand-to-mouth” behavior and their developing nervous system. He said as residents open and close doors lead-based paint found in homes built prior to 1978 can chip off or grind off as dust, which is so fine it is recycled by vacuums rather than picked up. 

“The most extensive lead-based paint is found in homes built before 1950,” Smith said. “After 1950, laws were passed to phase out the use of lead-based paint and complete use was banned in 1978.”

Chronic long-term exposure to lead-based paint can result in elevated lead levels in blood tests, declines in IQ, concerns about development of a child’s nervous system and behavioral issues, such as irritability, aggressiveness and hyper activity, Smith said. 

Ongoing surveillance by the Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program tests all 1 and 2-year-olds on Maine Care and it is recommended children not on Maine Care are assessed for lead levels, Smith said. He said the current rate of lead poisoning among children younger than 6 years old is 1.3 per 100 tested statewide.

Surveillance also indicated 40 percent of state-wide identified lead poisoning cases have been found in five concentrated areas including Sanford, Biddeford, Saco, greater Portland, Bangor and Lewiston and Auburn areas, Smith said. Between 80 and 90 percent of properties in the urban areas are rental units and Smith said the rate of lead poisoning among children younger than 6 years old in the identified communities is between 2 and 2.9 per 100 tested.

“We roughly see 130 to 150 cases of lead poisoning per year statewide,” Smith said. “In 2003 more than 200 tested positive. Lead poisoning has been and continues to be on a general decline, but surveillance rates have remained the same.”