Effects of HUD-supported lead hazard control interventions in housing on children's blood lead.

The Evaluation of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program studied the effectiveness of the housing intervention performed in reducing the blood lead of children at four post-intervention times (6-months, 1-year, 2-years, and 3-years). A repeat measures analysis showed that blood lead levels declined up to three-years post-intervention. The results at each successive collection time were significantly lower than at the previous post-intervention time except for the difference between the levels at two and three years.

Improving cost-effectiveness of epidemiological studies via designed missingness strategies.

Modern epidemiological studies face opportunities and challenges posed by an ever-expanding capacity to measure a wide range of environmental exposures, along with sophisticated biomarkers of exposure and response at the individual level. The challenge of deciding what to measure is further complicated for longitudinal studies, where logistical and cost constraints preclude the collection of all possible measurements on all participants at every follow-up time. This is true for the National Children's Study (NCS), a large-scale longitudinal study that will enroll women both prior to conception and during pregnancy and collect information on their environment, their pregnancies, and their children's development through early adulthood-with a goal of assessing key exposure/outcome relationships among a cohort of approximately 100 000 children.

Selecting a lead hazard control strategy based on dust lead loading and housing condition: II. Application of Housing Assessment Tool (HAT) modeling results.

In Part I in this issue, modeling was used to identify a Housing Assessment Tool (HAT) that can be used to predict relative intervention effectiveness for a range of intervention intensities and baseline dust lead loadings in occupied dwellings. The HAT predicts one year post-intervention floor and windowsill loadings and the probability that these loadings will exceed current federal lead hazard standards. This article illustrates the field application of the HAT, helping practitioners determine the minimum intervention intensity needed to reach "acceptable" one year post-intervention levels, with acceptability defined based on specific project needs, local needs, regulations, and resource constraints.

Selecting a lead hazard control strategy based on dust lead loading and housing condition: I. Methods and results.

A methodology was developed to classify housing conditions and interior dust lead loadings, using them to predict the relative effectiveness of different lead-based paint hazard control interventions. A companion article in this issue describes how the methodology can be applied. Data from the National Evaluation of the HUD Lead Hazard Control Grant Program, which covered more than 2800 homes in 11 U.

Friction and impact surfaces: are they lead-based paint hazards?

Professionals who identify residential lead-based paint hazards and develop lead hazard control plans are instructed to assess painted friction and impact surfaces in homes as potentially active sources of dust lead, a known exposure vector for young children. However, empirical tests of the importance of these surfaces had not been conducted. Using data collected as part of a 1998 three-community study of the Housing and Urban Development Lead Risk Assessment protocols, this article explores how much rubbing or binding on friction and impact surfaces on windows and doors influence dust lead levels on windowsills and floors, while taking into account paint condition on these surfaces and other sources of lead.