Get the Lead Out: A Proposal for a LEAD Innovation Fund

Although overall U.S. lead exposure rates have steadily declined over the past few decades, lead persists in our environment and continues to affect the health of individuals around the country. Lead poisoning is completely preventable. But, because lead has no smell, taste, or color, communities an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2019
Main Authors: Boser, Ulrich, Holman, Read
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgets/Expenditures
Center for American Progress
Government
Health care policy
Water
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Although overall U.S. lead exposure rates have steadily declined over the past few decades, lead persists in our environment and continues to affect the health of individuals around the country. Lead poisoning is completely preventable. But, because lead has no smell, taste, or color, communities and public health officials have significant challenges finding and measuring the presence of the toxic metal. One force driving this dynamic is technology: Accurately and reliably testing for the presence of lead in water, paint, soil, dust, and elsewhere requires the use of expensive technologies and advanced methods in analytical chemistry. This makes managing, reducing, and ultimately eliminating lead exposure incredibly difficult. Meanwhile, recent research and early-stage technological developments point to promising new testing methods that would amount to a paradigm shift in how lead exposure is addressed. This issue brief provides background on the U.S. lead crisis and summarizes legislative efforts to combat it. The brief then presents a new proposal for Congress to provide funding to advance these new testing innovations, accelerate their commercialization through competition, and bring forth 21st century approaches to environmental monitoring and public health. Called the Lead Exposure Activity Detection (LEAD) Innovation Fund, the proposal is as necessary as it is timely. Currently, Congress is also working on an infrastructure bill that could go a long way toward tackling the persistent issue of lead. And while President Donald Trump's administration recently released the Federal Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposure, the plan lacks the needed action steps proposed in this brief.