Many children live in older housing with lead paint.
About 75 percent of homes built before 1978 contain some lead-based paint. When properly maintained and managed, the paint poses little risk. Lead contaminated household dust is believed to be a major source of exposure for most children with high blood lead levels. Researchers followed 99 urban children with high blood lead levels for an average of nine to fifteen months. During this time, the parents of 46 of the children were taught how to remove lead dust and offered assistance with house cleaning, while the parents of the other 53 children received only information on identified lead paint hazards and lead exposure in their homes.