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EPA Lead Program
Grant Fact Sheet

Lead Screening and Family Education
(S.A.F.E.) Project
Tacoma, Washington

EPA has selected the Pierce County Health

Department in Tacoma, Washington for a
Targeted Lead Grant.

The Tacoma Pierce County Health Department
plans to use $98,258 in EPA grant money to
screen children to determine the prevalence of
elevated blood-lead levels in high risk
populations. The project addresses an area of
suspected but undocumented elevated blood-
lead levels. The Pierce County Lead S.A.F.E.
(Screening and Family Education) project will
screen children by partnering with established
culturally based community organizations. The
project goals are to:

•	Screen large numbers of young children
in targeted populations to give a basis for
developing a lead-related health policy,

•	Characterize the nature and scope of
childhood lead poisoning in Pierce
County,

EPA's Targeted Lead Grants

EPA's Targeted Lead Grant Program funds
projects in areas with high incidences of
children with elevated blood-lead levels in
vulnerable populations. In 2007 the Agency
awarded more than $5.2 Million in grants
under this ambitious program. These
targeted grants are intended to address
immediate needs of the communities in
which they are awarded, and will also
highlight lead poison prevention strategies
that can be used in similar communities
across the country.

EPA's lead program is playing a major role
in meeting the federal goal of eliminating
childhood lead poisoning as a major public
health concern by 2010, and the projects
supported by these grant funds are an
important part of this ongoing effort.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control in 1978 there were 13.5 million
children in the US with elevated blood lead
levels. By 2002, that number had dropped
to 310,000.

For more information about EPA's Lead
Program, visit www.epa.gov/lead or call
the National Lead Information Center at
1-800-424-LEAD.

•	Increase awareness among community

members about health risks from lead and increase the number of people that will take steps
to reduce contact with lead,

•	Reduce elevated blood-lead levels by providing services to families with high lead levels, and

•	Build capacity within the community to conduct ongoing lead exposure prevention activities.

At the end of the grant period, the county will have partnerships in place, information about the extent
and location of childhood lead poisoning in Pierce County, and a roadmap for how best to proceed.

2007 Targeted Lead Grant Program

Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics

www.epa.gov/lead

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