Cambridge takes next step in lead hazard reduction

(CAMBRIDGE, Md) – The city of Cambridge is taking the next steps forward in their lead hazard reduction program, an initiative meant to help prevent further lead poisoning in older homes in the city.

The project has been in the works for two years with the city’s Housing Department, Especially with plenty of older homes.

“As a city that is well over 300 years old, unfortunately, there’s a lot of lead in our older houses. Anybody who lives in a house built after 1978 doesn’t have lead…” says Cambridge City Manager, Glenn Steckman.

Those homes built before 1978 can have lead in them…specifically lead paint.

However, the possibility of lead poisoning for children can still be an issue in these older houses.

Ruth Ann Norton, who is the President of the non-profit, the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative tells WMDT, “That little bit can cause lifetime impact, a irreversible impact on the brain of the young child. And it’s the cognitive development and it can lead to aggressive behavior reading disabilities…”

That’s why the city is moving forward into the next steps of hazard reduction.

Steckman says, “Now we are in a phase called the training phase, where people can come and learn how to be led abatement contractors. They can also learn on their own what they just might need to do to make their home safer.”

For more information, you can contact the Cambridge Housing Department at (410)-901-3300