HUD proposes lowering acceptable lead level for children

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro made the announcement Wednesday after touring Providence homes where lead paint hazards have been cleaned up using federal funds.

Castro chose to make the announcement in Rhode Island because of the prevalence of lead paint-based contamination in the state's old urban housing stock and a yearslong state effort to track and reduce childhood lead poisoning.

The state's health department says the number of lead-poisoned children has declined by about a third over the past decade, but 935 children in the state will be entering kindergarten this year with elevated levels of lead in their blood, which can cause irreversible health, learning and behavioral problems.