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City property owners are being invited to get the lead out in 2009.

A new program that began Thursday will help both landlords and residents in McKeesport, Duquesne and Clairton test their homes for lead hazards and control the lead before it affects the health of any occupants.

"We can help make a home lead-safe, not lead-free," says Jim Haughey of the McKeesport Housing Corp.

Removal of all lead from a home --- abatement --- can cost tens of thousands of dollars; the program in which MHC is participating tops at considerably less.

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Lead was once commonly used as a pigment in residential paints and in the manufacture and installation of pipes and plumbing fixtures.

Although lead paint has been banned for residential use since 1978, more than 90 percent of the houses in McKeesport were built before 1970, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Roughly 50 percent of the city's homes date from before 1939.)

If lead leaches into drinking water or breaks down into breathable particles and becomes airborne, both children and adults can be at risk for lead poisoning, which can cause learning disabilities, memory loss, anemia, mysterious aches and pains, and other health problems.

Small children are particularly vulnerable because they may chew on banisters or other household items painted with lead-based paint. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 percent of children ages 1 to 5 have unhealthy levels of lead in their blood; African-American children are about three times as likely to have high levels of lead in their blood.

But grownups can also be susceptible, especially if they begin a home remodeling project that requires grinding, drilling or sanding down lead paint or pipes, releasing lead dust into the air.

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MHC has partnered with the federal Lead Elimination Action Program (LEAP) to test up to 50 homes in McKeesport, Clairton and Duquesne for lead exposure. To qualify, the home must be occupied by children under age 6.

If high levels of lead are found in the home or during blood tests, grant money can pay for up to 50 percent of any lead control work up to $6,000, Haughey says.

An MHC employee, Angelia Christina, is a certified lead program coordinator and is overseeing the testing.

Both owner-occupied homes and rental properties qualify for the program, Haughey says. MHC expects to test about 50 units this year.

Landlords who rent to people on public assistance are required to make their properties lead-safe, Haughey says, "so it would really behoove them to take advantage of this program."

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Besides the LEAP program, MHC can also obtain grants or low-interest loans from other sources for residents on fixed incomes who want to correct lead problems, code violations and health and safety deficiencies.

Currently headed by Executive Director Les Petras, MHC has obtained $11 million in assistance for local homeowners over the past 24 years, Haughey says. That includes obtaining the financing for construction of 40 new homes in the city, such as the new houses being built on the old Union Avenue reservoir with the help of a $100,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank.

"We can put together different funding sources to help people," Haughey says, "but we do have a limit of $25,000 per project."

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For more information, call McKeesport Housing Corp. at (412) 664-7003.