A lead abatement team removes lead paint from a home in St. Louis. Lead paint abatement laws vary greatly from state to state and enforcement is erratic.
City attorneys in Columbus, Ohio, are planning to sue dozens of landlords for failing to remove hazardous lead paint in their properties, The Columbus Dispatch reports.
The suits follow a March report by the Ohio Department of Health, which listed more than 500 Columbus residences with orders to vacate because of high lead paint levels.
In the wake of the Flint water crisis, states have rushed to test for high levels of lead in drinking water. But paint, rather than drinking water, remains the main source of lead poisoning of young children in the U.S. While there are myriad federal and state laws designed to eradicate lead paint, enforcement is lackluster, hampered by a lack of money and the misperception that the problem has been solved.
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