hundreds of homes and schools throughout the state will now likely need to have lead paint and dust removed under new federal regulations officials from the Environmental Protection Agency were in Newark today announcing tough new standards reducing minimum lead levels which are poisonous to children to zero in houses and other buildings as senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports Advocates say it's a significant change that will expose more disparities in lead exposure affecting a large chunk of New Jersey's aged housing stock we know that no level of exposure to lead is good for our children zero EPA officials announced groundbreaking new rules strengthening lead safety requirements for homes built before 1978. the change would lower allowable lead-based paint Hazard levels for floors and windows down to zero finally matching what health experts have advised for decades ingesting lead paint can damage Health lower IQs and cause behavioral problems in kids today's proposal which finally acknowledges that any exposure to lead at any level is a hazard is a gigantic Leap Forward in this country's long delayed efforts to eliminate or at least significantly reduce lead exposures communities of color and those of lower income are often at a greater risk of lead exposure Studies have shown that older homes owned or rented by low-income families are more likely to contain lead-based paint than newer properties an estimated 1.6 million New Jersey homes could be impacted because they were built before Congress banned lead-based paint in 1978. a state mapping tool shows more than half of Newark rental housing was built prior to the ban including this three apartment home in the South Ward landlord Jomo Roche tells a terrifying Story the grandchild of my tenants ended up in a hospital due to being exposed to lead so as a landlord I had to take action he applied to newark's robust lead abatement program and it paid about five thousand dollars to remove lead paint from windowsills door jams chair rails and shelves New Jersey's earmarked more than 180 million in Federal grant funding for lead abatement in 2021 local Health departments tested about 790 homes Statewide and ordered 360 lead abatements 37 of them in Jersey City 59 in Newark Newark has several zip codes that have some of the largest number of housing units built before 1960 in the country and is also likely that the more than 60 year old paint that's on those walls can crumble and turn into dust that children might breathe touch and eat mayor Ross Baraka feels a personal connection we actually found lead dust in our home and we had to move out in order to get it debated and thankfully enough that Newark has a program the agency chose Newark to make its announcement after the city's success in replacing lead water lines and because it's already got a list of approved lead abatement contractors after lead cleanups done any remaining residue will also have to meet new lower requirements under another set of regulations unveiled today by the EPA but higher standards mean higher abatement costs and the new regulations won't be universally welcomed so we hope that the rules we're proposing today are finalized expeditiously and without being weakened by the inevitable industry pressure we know you'll face and then implemented vigorously the comment period runs for 60 days and EPA officials hope the new tougher relations will be finalized by the end of this year in New York I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news