In 1992 the U.S. Congress passed the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act to require disclosure of known information on lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978. Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in 1978.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that around "three-quarters of the nation's housing stock built before 1978 -- approximately 64 million dwellings -- contain some lead-based paint." In March 2001, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a field guide about lead paint safety, noting that approximately 98 percent of the homes built before 1940 probably contained lead-based paints.

HUD further stated that while poor maintenance of lead-based paint primarily endangers children "repainting and/or renovation that disturb lead-based paint in a well-maintained home can also expose children to unsafe levels of lead. . . . Lead-based paint can also pose a threat to workers by causing damage to their brains, and nervous and reproductive systems.