Here are some more facts about the state of our local homes.
Lead
- WNY is home to eight of the highest risk zip codes for lead poisoning in New York.
- How much lead is considered “safe” for developing children? None.
- “Lead poisoning” means levels of 10 micrograms/deciliter of blood. If my math is right, that means 1% of a gram per liter.
- The cost of making a home lead safe is about $3500. It’s even lower, $1000, if windows don’t need to be replaced.
- A newborn baby has the same level of lead infection as his or her mother.
Asthma
- Unhealthy housing leads to 720,000 asthma related emergency room visits a year.
- 40% of asthma episodes are caused by triggers in the home.
- The amount of money saved by eliminating asthma related emergency room trips could de-lead 7000 houses a year.
Housing
- In regions similar to Buffalo collaborative efforts to address housing issues have been found to be 20% more effective than those efforts done in isolation.
- Unhealthy housing leads to 250,000 new cases of childhood lead poisoning a year.
- Unhealthy housing leads to 10,000 carbon monoxide poisonings a year.
- Unhealthy housing leads to 13 million preventable home-related injuries a year.
- We spend about 70 years of our lives indoors.
- Home injuries cost $222 billion in medical costs annually.
- More than 6 million families live in unhealthy and inefficient housing.
