Research to Move Toward Evidence-Based Recommendations for Lead Service Line Disclosure Policies in Home Buying and Home Renting Scenarios.

Lead service lines (LSLs)-lead pipes connecting the water main under the street to a building's plumbing-contribute an estimated 50% to 75% of lead in tap water when they are present. Although Congress banned lead in plumbing materials in 1986, over 6 million LSLs remain in homes across the United States today. This paper summarizes three different home buying or renting scenario-based experimental studies used to evaluate disclosure styles, to assess if these influenced respondents' perceived risk of the LSL in a home, and their willingness to act. In renting scenarios, having landlords disclose the presence of an LSL, but also provide water test results showing lead levels below the EPA's lead action level resulted in lower levels of perceived risk, and of willingness to act. In seller-disclosure home buying scenarios, levels of perceived risk and willingness to act were consistently high, and three different disclosure styles did not differentially influence those outcomes. In home inspector-disclosure home buying scenarios, levels of perceived risk and willingness to act were high, but having explicit recommendations to replace LSLs and/or information about risk did not further influence those outcomes. In some cases, including the specific recommendations backfired. Implications for policy and regulation are discussed.

National Healthy Homes Training Center and Network: building capacity for healthy homes.

Recognizing the need to build a cadre of health care and housing professionals prepared to make homes healthier, in 2003, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development launched the National Healthy Homes Training Center and Network (Training Center). Through a competitive process, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention selected the National Center for Healthy Housing to host and manage the Training Center. The Training Center has flourished with additional support from US Environmental Protection Agency. The training incorporates interventions known to be most effective and helps to disseminate best practices. By 2010, it: developed a curriculum of 8 courses including 1 online course; trained more than 6500 people; credentialed more than 380 people as Healthy Homes specialists; delivered more than 220 one- or two-day trainings in 40 states; grew from 5 to 25 state or regional training partners covering 40 states; and created an extensive Web site of resources at www.healthyhomestraining.org.