| Because healthy homes issues
arise at the intersection of environment, health, and housing, the Department
for Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency,
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the primary agencies
responsible for understanding and addressing health hazards in the home.
CDC’s focus is disease surveillance, medical treatment strategies,
and prevention. HUD seeks to ensure decent, safe, and affordable housing
for all, and EPA focuses largely on assessing and remediating hazards. A
range of other federal agencies also play a role, undertaking research,
providing information, and setting standards.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(see below under Department of Health and Human Services)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(see below under Department of Health and Human Services)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services
(see below under Department of Health and Human Services)
Consumer Product
Safety Commission
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal
regulatory agency working to save lives and keep families safe by reducing
the risk of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products. CPSC
conducts research, issues product standards, obtains recalls, and disseminates
information to consumers.
Department of Agriculture (USDA): English
|
Español
- Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service (CSREES)
www.csrees.usda.gov
USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
partners with universities and other public and private organizations
to advance research, extension, and higher education in the food and
agricultural sciences and related environmental, social, and human sciences.
Program topics for research and education include: integrated pest management,
environment/natural resources, urban research, community participation,
and indoor air quality.
Department of
Energy (DOE)
- Indoor
Environment Department
DOE’s Indoor Environment Department conducts research, technology
development, and dissemination activities in order to improve the energy
efficiency of the indoor environment and the health and comfort of building
occupants. It works on improving indoor air quality and understanding
human exposures to pollutants found in indoor and outdoor air.
Department of Health
and Human Services
- Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), an agency
of the Department of Health and Human Services, establishes and maintains
toxic substances databases, provides health information to prevent harmful
exposures and disease related to toxic substances, and performs public
health assessments at hazardous waste sites.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
English | Español
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) work to protect
the health and safety of people through a focus on disease prevention
and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education
activities. CDC provides funding to state and local health departments
to screen children for elevated blood lead levels, ensure that poisoned
children receive appropriate medical and environmental follow-up, and
develop neighborhood-based approaches to preventing lead poisoning.
CDC has established the current level of concern for lead in blood at
10 µg/dl.
- National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
is responsible for conducting research and making recommendations
for the prevention of work-related disease and injury. NIOSH investigates
potentially hazardous working conditions upon request; makes recommendations
and disseminates information on preventing workplace disease, injury,
and disability; and provides training to occupational safety and health
professionals. NIOSH has studied the increased risks of lead poisoning
to children of lead-exposed construction workers, and oversees a program
to track adult blood lead levels.
- Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services
CMS administers Medicaid, which is a federal-state partnership program
that provides health care to eligible poor and disabled persons. CMS
publishes blood lead screening requirements for states, which currently
require all Medicaid-eligible children to receive a blood lead test
at 12 months and 24 months of age, and if they have not been previously
screened for lead poisoning, between the ages of 3 and 6 years
of age. Along with the Health Resources and Services Administration,
CMS also runs the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP),
which is expected to cover many of the approximately 10 million uninsured
children in the United States.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): English
| Español
HUD’s mission is to provide a decent, safe, and sanitary home and
suitable living environment for every American. HUD works to create opportunities
for home ownership, provide low-income persons with housing assistance,
enforce the nation’s fair housing laws, and create, rehabilitate,
and maintain affordable housing.
- Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard
Control: English
| Español
This Office operates a grant program for state and local governments,
conducts research and outreach on healthy homes, enforces the lead hazard
disclosure law, and develops lead-based paint regulations and
policies. HUD’s Healthy Homes Initiative supports research to
identify and demonstrate low-cost, effective home hazard assessment
and intervention methods, and public education that stresses ways in
which communities can mitigate housing-related hazards.
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency: English
| Español
- Office of Air and Radiation (OAR),
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Division
The Indoor Air Quality Division of OAR provides a wealth of information
on asthma, mold, second-hand smoke, radon, and IAQ in schools. The Division
has produced Guidelines on Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial
Buildings, among numerous other publications.
- Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse:
English
| Spanish
This Clearinghouse distributes EPA publications, answers questions
on the phone, and provides referrals to other nonprofit and governmental
organizations.
- Indoor Air Quality Hotline (IAQINFO): 1-800-438-4318
This hotline provides general information on indoor air quality
and related pollutants.
- Office
of Children's Health Protection (OCHP)
OCHP supports and facilitates EPA’s efforts to protect children's
health from environmental threats.
- Toxics
and Pesticides Enforcement Division
This division directs EPA's national enforcement programs under the
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including regulation of lead-based
paint (lead hazard disclosure) and asbestos in schools. This Division
also oversees enforcement of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act (EPCRA), which establishes a right to information about toxic chemical
substances, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA), which regulates the sale and distribution of pesticides.
- TSCA Assistance Information Service: 202-554-1404
Provides information on Toxic Substances Control Act regulations
and on EPA's asbestos program.
- Office
of Environmental Justice
The Office of Environmental Justice serves as a focal point for ensuring
that communities comprised predominately of people of color or low-income
populations receive protection under environmental laws.
- Office
of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances
OPPTS develops national strategies for pesticides and toxic substances
control and promotes pollution prevention and the public's right to
know about chemical risks.
- Office
of Water
The Office of Water is responsible for EPA's water quality activities
including development of national programs, technical policies, and
regulations relating to drinking water. Under the Safe Drinking Water
Act, the Office sets standards for contaminants in drinking water including
lead, copper, arsenic, radon, and some pesticides.
- Safe Drinking Water Hotline: 1-800-426-4791
Provides information on Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, lead
and radon in drinking water, filter information, and a list of state
drinking water offices.
National
Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit society
of scholars engaged in scientific research, dedicated to the furtherance
of science and technology for the general welfare. Under the charter granted
to it by Congress in 1863, NAS has a mandate to advise the federal government
on scientific and technical matters.
National Institutes of Health: English
| Español
- National Cancer Institute (NCI): English
| Español
NCI, established under the National Cancer Act of 1937, is the federal
government's principal agency for cancer research and training.
- Cancer
Information Service: 1-800-4-CANCER or 1-800-442-6237
The National Cancer Institute provides the Cancer Information Service
to serve the public in understanding scientific cancer research
findings.
- National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIAID conducts and supports research that strives to understand, treat,
and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. NIAID has
established a network of asthma and allergic disease research centers
to transfer results rapidly from studies to clinical practice. The Institute
also supports the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study to define
factors that influence the disease's severity and to design and evaluate
programs to reduce asthma episodes and deaths among African-American
and Hispanic children.
- National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
NIEHS works to reduce human illness by studying environmental and individual
factors underlying disease. NIEHS has developed a number of projects
and grant programs designed to address health disparities and empower
local communities to deal with the environmental health problems in
their regions. NIEHS also is evaluating medical treatments for lead
poisoning. NIEHS offers a number of Environmental Fact Sheets and Pamphlets
on the health impacts of pesticides, polluted water and air, and other
environmental hazards.
- National
Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
The mission of NCMHD is to promote minority health and to lead, coordinate,
support, and assess the NIH effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate
health disparities. NCMHD conducts and supports research, fosters emerging
programs, disseminates information, and reaches out to minority and
other health disparity communities.
National Institute
of Standards and Technology
Founded in 1901, NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the Commerce
Department whose mission is to develop and promote measurement, standards,
and technology. The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program
(NVLAP) provides third-party accreditation to testing and calibration
laboratories. NIST has developed the standards of measurement that laboratories
use to determine the amount of lead in paint samples. The Building and
Fire Research Laboratory studies building materials; fire safety; and
structural, mechanical, and environmental engineering in order to develop
measurements and test methods, performance criteria, and technical data
that can be incorporated into building and fire standards and codes.
National Safety
Council
The National Safety Council, a non-governmental organization founded in
1913 and chartered by Congress in 1953, is a leading advocate for safety
and health. Its mission is to educate and influence society to adopt safety,
health, and environmental policies that prevent human suffering and economic
losses arising from preventable causes.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): English
| Español
OSHA seeks to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect the health of
American workers. OSHA regulates occupational exposures to lead by workers
engaged in lead abatement, demolition, remodeling, and other construction-related
activities under the Lead in Construction Rule, which prescribes protective
measures for workers and engineering and work practices. OSHA also ensures
that employees have information regarding hazardous substances in the
workplace (including lead) under the Hazard Communications Standard. |
