AN EVALUATION OF THE BALTIMORE COMMUNITY LEAD EDUCATION AND REDUCTION CORPS (CLEARCorps) PROGRAM

This evaluation examines the effectiveness of the Baltimore Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEARCorps) program in reducing lead dust levels in low-income urban housing in Baltimore, Maryland, through minor lead-reduction activities and tenant lead-pocsoning prevention education. Lead dust data collected before and after lead-reduction activities show statistically significant mean declines for floors, window sills, and window wells. Limited data using sign tests also show that follow-up lead dust levels collected 6 months after the CLEARCorps intervention were significantly lower than preintervention lead levels. Al-though there are many important limitations of this analysis, the findings suggest that in-place management may be an effective method in reducing childhood lead poisoning in high-risk areas. THE PROBLEM OF CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING The toxic effects of lead have been known for hundreds of years. Research has provided overwhelming evidence that ingestion of this metallic element adversely &dquo;affects virtually every system in the body&dquo; (Centers for Disease Control [CDC] 1991, 7). The deleterious effects of lead in children are of special concern. Even at so-called low levels in children’s bodies, lead can impede their behavioral development, reduce their intelligence, cause hearing loss, and even interfere with important biological functions. These effects are well documented, and it is now conceded that no level of lead in a child’s body can be considered safe (Bagh’urst et al. 1992; Bellinger et al. 1992; American Academy of Pediatrics 1987, 457). Considering the substantial amount of research in the past 15 years linking increasingly lower lead exposure levels to neurobehavioral impairments i