Toxic Substances

Millions of children have so much lead in their blood that they may suffer from lifelong intelligence and behavioral problems. Efforts to reduce lead hazards have focused mainly on housing, but concern is mounting over the presence of lead in child care facilities and schools, particularly since children spend so much time there. The combined efforts of federal, state, and local governments to counter lead hazards in child care facilities and schools, however, are limited in scope and do not provide a comprehensive approach for defining and alleviating the problem. Little information is available on either the full extent of the danger that lead poses to the nation's school children or on efforts to address the hazard. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Toxic Substances: Information on Lead Hazards in Child Care Facilities and Schools Is Limited, by Richard L. Hembra, Director of Environmental Protection Issues, before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO/T-RCED-93-48, Sept. 14, 1993 (12 pages).

GAO found that: (1) most federal programs do not specifically address lead hazards in child care facilities and schools, but they do increase general understanding of lead hazards and facilitate efforts to identify and eliminate them in general; (2) the few federal programs that specifically target child care facilities and schools are limited in scope and apply to only a small number of facilities and schools; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to enforce legislation to reduce lead hazards or sufficient funds to test drinking water; (4) state and local lead hazard inspection and enforcement activities and requirements vary widely due to limited licensing and budgets; (5) there is not sufficient information on the extent and abatement of lead hazards in child care facilities; (6) some school districts have limited information on lead inspections in schools; and (7) Congress has proposed legislation to require local authorities to test all child care facilities for lead hazards in paint, drinking water, and soils, visually inspect elementary schools for potential lead hazards, and prepare reports on the results of these tests and inspections.