National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 2025

From Awareness to Action

Statement from Ruth Ann Norton, President & CEO

As we embark today on the 33rd National Lead Poisoning Prevention Awareness Week (NLPPW), the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) is more committed than ever to creating better futures for children and families that are living in the more than 35 million homes in the U.S. that still contain lead-based paint. Our call this year is to move from awareness to action to eradicate every source of lead in every community.

The long-term health effects of lead poisoning are devastating and irreversible. Impacted children enter school with diminished reading abilities and drop out of school at a rate seven times higher than their peers. Additional effects include learning disabilities, reduced IQ scores, speech delays, aggressive and violent behavior, and long-term health impacts on the kidneys, heart, and brain.

But the good news is that eradicating childhood lead poisoning is not an intractable problem. Lead poisoning is wholly preventable, and we have made progress over the past decades. In Maryland, we have reduced lead poisoning by 99% so we know it can be done when we work together using comprehensive, proven strategies. Maryland would not have achieved this result without the tireless efforts of our partners at the Maryland Departments of Health, the Environment, and Housing and Community Development; the Baltimore City Health Department; and the health departments in each of Maryland’s 23 counties who work tirelessly to ensure lead poisoning prevention awareness is ongoing, not just one week out of the year.

GHHI is hosting and participating in lead poisoning prevention awareness events throughout the week in Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Join us if you want to find out more about what action you can take to ensure your family and your community are safe from lead poisoning. Click HERE for a calendar of all the activities happening this week at our GHHI sites.

For national resources about lead poisoning prevention, visit the websites of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.

We as a country can positively change the trajectory of the lives of millions of children and create safer, healthier, and more resilient communities. With our partners in federal, state, and local agencies we can, together, end lead’s toxic legacy. Let’s commit this week to move from awareness to action to end lead poisoning.