Targeting Coordinated Federal Efforts to Address Persistent Hazardous Exposures to Lead

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and other federal agencies are committed to primary and secondary prevention of lead exposure and its adverse health outcomes. Updated national standards, guidance, and coordinated policies combined with abatement, enforcement, remediation, infrastructure replacement, and other lead exposure prevention projects will further reduce the presence of lead in the diets of children and theirfamilies and in the places where they live, work, learn, and play. This includes providing resources to support cleanup or removal of remaining lead exposure hazards; identifying the most vulnerable US locations to focus prevention and mitigation efforts through coordinated lead-mapping efforts; targeting blood lead surveillance, education, outreach, and training to the most vulnerable locations; and updating national standards and guidance based on the best available science. We describe how agencies are coordinating their efforts.From the 1970s to the 2020s blood lead levels (BLLs) measured in children1 have fallen steadily as actions taken by different federal agencies reduced or removed lead from motor vehicle gasoline, paint, water, air, food containers, and other sources.2 One indicator of the success of lead mitigation efforts is the CDC's reduction ofthe blood lead reference value from 5.0 to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter in October 2021.3 The blood lead reference value is a population-based measurement of the 97.5th percentile of BLLs of US children aged 1 to 5 years. This reduction reflects the decline in BLLs among the US children most exposed to lead.