5.3 Paint-Lead, Dust-Lead, and Soil-Lead Hazard Definitions

Three media, two different dust numbers

Quick Answer: A lead-based paint hazard is paint-lead, dust-lead, or soil-lead as determined in 745.227(h) and 745.65. Paint-lead is friction-plus-dust, chewable LBP with teeth marks, impact damage from a related component, or other deteriorated LBP. Dust-lead hazard on or after January 12, 2026 is any reportable level on floors and interior window sills (NLLAP wipe). Action levels to complete abatement are 5 / 40 / 100 µg/ft² (floors / sills / troughs). Soil-lead is 400 ppm play-area composite bare soil or 1,200 ppm rest-of-yard arithmetic mean. Finishing below action levels is not “zero lead dust.”

Intact LBP on a ceiling that no child can chew and that is not deteriorating may be lead-based paint without being a paint-lead hazard. Dust on the floor at a reportable level is a dust-lead hazard even when no paint is currently peeling. Bare soil in the play area at 400 ppm is a soil-lead hazard even if every interior wall is intact. The supervisor’s work order has to name the medium, not just “lead.”

Reportable level (745.63) is the lowest analyte amount that does not contain a “less than” qualifier and that is reported with confidence by a laboratory recognized under TSCA section 405(b) — an NLLAP lab. It is a lab-specific floor, not a second EPA action level you memorize as a number.

Paint-lead hazard — 745.227(h)(2)

A paint-lead hazard is present when any of these is true:

Friction surface (745.63): an interior or exterior surface subject to abrasion or friction — certain window, floor, and stair surfaces. Friction paint-lead is a two-part test: (1) LBP on a friction surface that is actually being abraded, and (2) dust on the nearest horizontal surface at the dust-lead hazard level. On or after January 12, 2026, that dust-lead hazard is any reportable level. A rubbing sash over a stool with a reportable wipe is a paint-lead hazard even if the wipe is still below the 40 µg/ft² sill action level. Intact LBP on a sash that is painted shut and not abrading, with non-detect dust below, is not this prong.

Impact surface (745.63): subject to damage by repeated sudden force, such as certain parts of door frames. The deterioration has to be caused by the related component. Random peeling from moisture on a wall the door never hits is the “other deteriorated” prong, not the impact prong.

Deteriorated paint in Subpart L (745.223) is paint that is cracking, flaking, chipping, peeling, or otherwise separating from the substrate. Paint in poor condition (more than 2 ft² interior / 10 ft² exterior / 10% of a small component) is a related size test taught in Chapter 6. For this section, remember that any deteriorated LBP in the building or on the exterior can be a paint-lead hazard under (h)(2)(iv) — there is no 2 ft² minimum inside that determination paragraph.

Dust-lead hazard vs action levels — the 2026 split

Action levels (745.223) are the values that indicate the amount of lead in dust on a surface following completion of an abatement. To complete abatement when dust sampling is required, values below these levels must be achieved. EPA previously called them “clearance levels.”

Historical only, clearly superseded: older federal dust numbers you may still see on yellowed handouts include 40 / 250 / 400 µg/ft² and, more recently, 10 / 100 / 400 µg/ft². Do not use 40/250/400 or 10/100/400 as current action levels. On or after January 12, 2026, the action levels are 5 / 40 / 100. Before that date, 745.227(e)(8)(viii) used 10 / 100 / 400. This guide is written for the current 5/40/100 rule.

Dust-lead hazard on or after January 12, 2026 (745.65(b) and 745.227(h)(3)): surface dust on floors or interior window sills at any reportable level, from wipe samples analyzed by an NLLAP-recognized laboratory. 745.227(h)(3) applies that to any single-surface or composite sample of floors or sills. Troughs still have an action level of 100 µg/ft² because post-abatement testing includes troughs, but the hazard definition is floors and sills.

That split is the point of this chapter:

• You complete abatement when floors are below 5, sills below 40, and troughs below 100 (and the visual is clean). Equal to the action level fails; reclean and retest (Chapter 18).
• You can meet those action levels and still have a remaining dust-lead hazard if the NLLAP result is reportable but below 5 (floors) or 40 (sills).
• That is why 745.227(e)(10)(vii) requires a mandatory dust-lead hazard statement in the abatement report when post-abatement results are below action levels and at or above reportable levels. The statement tells the owner that some dust-lead hazards remain because any reportable level is a dust-lead hazard, that abatement is complete only below action levels, and that EPA’s Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home pamphlet has ongoing cleaning recommendations (HEPA vacuum on returned furniture, regular damp cleaning). Full protocol — 1-hour wait, who samples, composite math — is Chapter 18. Learn the definition here so that chapter has somewhere to hang.

Worked example — below action level, still a hazard. Post-abatement floor wipe: 3 µg/ft². Sill: 22 µg/ft². Trough: 70 µg/ft². All three are below 5/40/100, so abatement can be completed (if the visual passed). If 3 and 22 are reportable for that NLLAP lab (not “< 5” or “< 20”), dust-lead hazards remain on the floor and sill. The report must include the (e)(10)(vii) statement. Telling the owner “we cleared to zero lead” is false.

Worked example — fails completion. Floor wipe 5 µg/ft². That is not below the action level. Reclean the represented components and retest. Do not write the hazard statement as a substitute for failing the action level.

Soil-lead hazard — 400 / 1,200, bare soil

A soil-lead hazard is present (745.227(h)(4)):

• Play area: composite bare soil ≥ 400 parts per million; or
• Rest of the yard (non-play areas): arithmetic mean lead from a composite (or mean of composites) of bare soil for each residential building ≥ 1,200 ppm.

Play area (745.63) is frequent soil contact by children under 6 — play equipment, toys, observed play, or information from parents, caregivers, or owners. Bare soil is the sample medium. Soil under intact pavement is not this hazard. Dripline is the area within 3 feet of the building perimeter (risk-assessment sampling location, Chapter 7/15), not a third numeric standard.

If soil is abated, 745.227(e)(7) allows removal and replacement with soil as close to local background as practicable but no greater than 400 ppm, not reused as residential topsoil, or permanent covering as defined in 745.223: pavement or concrete. Grass, mulch, and other landscaping are not permanent covering. Planting sod over 900 ppm play-area soil does not complete soil abatement. That cover can be an interim-style barrier; it is not the 745.223 permanent-cover method.

Worked example — two yard numbers. Play-area composite 350 ppm (no play-area soil-lead hazard). Rest-of-yard arithmetic mean 1,450 ppm (rest-of-yard soil-lead hazard). You do not “average 350 and 1,450” into one passing yard. You address the rest-of-yard hazard. Play-area 420 ppm would be its own hazard even if the rest of the yard is 200 ppm.

Completing abatement is not a clean-bill-of-health for lead

Hold three sentences for the exam:

1. LBP is a coating definition (1.0 mg/cm² or 0.5% by weight) on components.
2. Hazards are paint-lead, dust-lead, or soil-lead under 745.227(h).
3. Completing abatement for dust means below action levels (5/40/100), which can still leave reportable dust-lead hazards and a mandatory report statement.

Do not tell a property manager that a passed action-level letter means the unit has no lead dust. Do not treat 400 ppm soil as an action level for dust. Do not quote 40/250/400 or 10/100/400 as the current post-abatement numbers. Chapter 6 turns paint-lead into field recognition (poor condition, friction, impact, chewable). Chapter 15 returns to soil methods. Chapter 18 is the sampling protocol and the exact hazard-statement language.