Window Replacement and Long-Term Lead Control: Is Window Replacement a More Effective Long-Term Lead Control Strategy than Repair?

Project Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Project Partners: Chicago Department of Public Health; Environmental Health Watch; St. Paul-Ramsey County (MN) Public Health; Vermont Housing and Conservation Board; University of Cincinnati

Project Contact: Jonathan Wilson, jwilson@nchh.org, 443.539.4162

Project Description: This study is the first to estimate the effectiveness of lead hazard controls and window treatments more than a decade after their implementation, making it the longest time period ever to examine the durability of residential lead hazard control. Specifically, this study will be the first to compare the effects of window replacement versus other window treatments and lead hazard control methods. While window replacement has emerged as an increasingly popular form of lead hazard control in HUD’s lead hazard control grant program, there has been no study to date that has examined window replacement per se.

Earlier studies have tended to combine window replacement with other window lead hazard controls, such as installation of jamb liners and trough and sill enclosure/cap systems, resulting in lack of knowledge about the relative merits of window replacement versus window repair. Analysis of data from a six-year follow-up study suggests that dwellings with window replacement tend to have lower floor dust lead loadings. If this preliminary finding is confirmed by this study and continues with time, the study will provide empirical evidence that window replacement not only removes lead paint from the home and reduces window dust lead loadings, but also influences floor dust lead. Other studies have also examined the positive effects of window replacement on energy conservation, market value, and climate change.

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