Fill out the Lead Safe Assessment to find out if you qualify for the Lead Safe Housing Program. If you need assistance completing the pre-screen, call us at 931-648-6133.

About the Program

The Lead Safe Housing Program addresses lead paint hazards in homes belonging to families with low to moderate incomes at no cost to the homeowner. The goal is to prevent children and pregnant people from getting poisoned by lead paint. Lead paint has been used in homes built before 1978.

Do I Qualify for the Program?

You may be eligible if

• You own a home within the City of Clarksville
• You have lived in your home for at least a year
• Your home was built before 1978
• A child under 6 years old lives in your home or visits your home frequently (60 hours per year), OR a pregnant person lives in your home
• You meet federal income requirements (see the below table)

How the Program Works

The Lead Hazard Abatement Program offers grants to help remediate lead-based paint hazards in Clarksville homes. This program is available to homeowners who meet qualification criteria. Those who qualify may receive repairs designed to remediate lead-based paint hazards. Repairs may include replacing old wooden windows with new vinyl windows, vinyl siding and aluminum trim, covering porch floors and ceilings, and fresh paint!

A certified Lead-Based Paint Inspector/Risk Assessor will perform a non-invasive test of the property and identify lead paint hazards. The cost of this test is covered by the program. The resulting report will contain recommendations that will guide the work to be performed at your home. Your project will be assigned to a qualified general contractor that is certified as a State of Tennessee Lead Abatement Firm. These contractors are licensed, insured, and experienced in the lead hazard control industry.

During work, specially trained and State Certified Lead Abatement Supervisors and Workers will make repairs using lead safe work practices including the setting up of containment areas that will keep lead dust from spreading throughout your home. After work is completed, they will utilize specialty cleaning methods to remove lead dust that remains. Depending on where lead hazards are found, there may be several rooms that you will not have access to during work. If you can’t access a sleeping area, bathroom, and cooking area, you will be asked to relocate temporarily to a lead-safe unit for 5-7 days.

At the end of work, a Clearance Test is performed by a third-party inspector. This test consists of lab-analyzed dust wipes and a visual inspection that determine whether the work areas are safe to re-occupy. Once the passing results are received, you may re-occupy areas of work. Program Staff will also monitor and inspect work to ensure safety, proper installation of items, and quality of work.

Dangers of Lead-Based Paint Hazards

What is Lead?

Lead is a dense metallic naturally occurring mineral that has no benefit to the human body. Lead's high density, low melting point, ductility and relative inertness to oxidation make it useful. These properties, combined with its relative abundance and low cost, resulted in its extensive use in construction, plumbing, batteries, bullets and shot, weights, solders, pewters, fusible alloys, white paints, leaded gasoline, and radiation shielding. While lead-based paint and leaded gasoline were taken out of production in North America and Europe over 40 years ago, some countries still produce things like toys that have lead-based paints.

What is a Lead Hazard?

If your home was built prior 1978, it could contain lead-based paint. The older your home, the greater the chances of having lead-based paint or high levels of lead dust. Lead-based paint that is in poor condition and peeling, crackled, chipping, chalking or applied to friction and impact surfaces (such as windows and doors) can create a Lead Hazard. Lead dust and lead contaminated soils are also considered Lead Hazards.

How do you get lead poisoning?

Lead enters your body each time you inhale leaded fumes or dust, or swallow something that contains lead. If you are exposed to small amounts of lead over time or one large dose, your body may take in more lead than it can clean out. Lead poisoning is a disease that occurs when too much lead builds up in the body. 

How does lead harm the body?

Lead can harm both children and adults. Many times there are no symptoms until the health problems are very serious. Usually people who are lead poisoned do not seem to be sick. Lead can cause high blood pressure and kidney damage in adults. When young children are exposed to lead, they are at risk for: brain and nervous system damage, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problem and hearing and speech problems. Common symptoms of lead poisoning include: no desire to eat food, damage to IQ, damage to brain and nervous system, damage to kidneys, headaches, lack of energy, constipation, and stomach cramps.

Who is at risk?

Children under the age of 6 who spend time in homes built before 1978, with chipping or peeling paint, are at greatest risk. Adults who work with lead on the job are also at high risk. This can include painters, remodelers, or workers in smelters or battery plants. People remodeling their homes may also be at risk, if the paint in the home has lead in it. Family members can also become lead poisoned while the lead-based paint is being removed from the home, if the work is not done properly. Lead was allowed in household paint until 1978. The older your home is, the more likely it is to contain lead-based paint. Paints containing up to 50 percent lead were used on the inside and outside of homes through the 1950s. A pregnant or nursing woman's exposure to lead can harm her unborn baby or child.