Lead Hazard Control Program

The Environmental Public Health division of Harris County Public Health (HCPH) is committed to making Harris County residences built before 1978 lead safe.   

The Lead Hazard Control Program uses funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to:

  • Educate health care professionals and parents about the hazards of lead poisoning and the methods for reducing the sources of lead
  • Identify and test residences with lead-based paint hazards
  • Provide lead hazard reduction and relocation for residents (when necessary) 

Call us today to see if you qualify.


Phone: 
713-274-6374

Please note that the Lead Hazard Control Program specifically works to abate the lead found in homes built before 1978. If your home was built after 1978 you are unlikely to qualify. 

What is Lead Hazard?

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 cleanout.

Lead poisoning is a disease that occurs when too much lead builds up in the body.


How does lead harm the body?

Too much 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 poisoning can cause permanent and irreversible learning, behavioral and health problems in young children. Lead can cause high blood pressure and kidney damage in adults, and in severe cases be fatal.


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
  • Hearing and speech problems 

What are the symptoms of lead poisoning?

  • No desire to eat food
  • Damage to IQ
  • Damage to Brain and Nervous System
  • Damage to Kidneys
  • Headache
  • Lack of energy
  • Constipation
  • Stomach cramps

Who is at risk?

  • Children under six years of age spending 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.

Click here to learn more about getting yourself or your child tested for lead poisoning through the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.

Harris County Home Registry

When funding is available, Harris County Lead program provides grants to assist low-income homeowners with addressing unsafe lead paint conditions that pose a potential health hazard to young children. The program is designed to assist owners of single and multi-family dwellings and rental properties.

Some of the services we offer for those who qualify: 

  • Free lead inspections at your home 
  • Free remediation of lead hazards at your home or rental property

Below is a map of homes in Harris County that have been made lead safe.

Lead Remediated Homes 2022

Full Screen Lead Remediated Homes Map
Please report your map viewer issues to [email protected].


Check out the gallery below for homes we've finished