"Cleared" is not the same as clean for good.
Clearance, abatement, lead-safe, lead-free. They get used like synonyms, and only one clears a house for life. Here is what each actually means, what the rules require component by component, and the math on how little leaded dust it takes to fail.
Federal clearance bar, since Jan 12 2026:5 / 40 / 100 µg/ft²(was 10 / 100 / 400)
The short version
A clearance is not permanent. It certifies that one job got cleaned to standard. The next disturbance, you clear again.
The only status that lasts is lead-free, and you only reach it by removal. Cover the lead instead of removing it and you are lead-safe: a maintained, expiring condition. Even lead-free is a legal threshold, not literal zero.
1
Per job
Clearance
You pass the dust wipes after one hazard-reduction job. Says nothing about the next disturbance.
2
Maintained · expires
Lead-safe / interim controls / enclosure / encapsulation
The hazard is controlled, but the lead is still physically there. Coatings fail, enclosures get breached, certificates expire every 1 to 3 years.
3
Permanent status
Lead-free, by removal
An inspector certifies no lead-based paint remains above the legal threshold anywhere. The dwelling is then exempt from the lead rules.
4
The fine print
Threshold, not zero
"Lead-free" means below 1.0 mg/cm² or 0.5% by weight. Sub-threshold lead can remain. It is a legal status, not the physical absence of lead.
Eight definitions, with the citation.
Threshold
Lead-based paint
At or above 1.0 mg/cm² (XRF) or 0.5% by weight / 5,000 ppm (lab). Below that line is not "lead-based paint" in the regulatory sense, even with lead present.
24 CFR 35.110 · 40 CFR 745.103
Verb, not a label
Clearance examination
The step done after hazard reduction to confirm it is complete and no settled lead-dust hazard remains. A visual check, then dust-wipe samples to a lab. One-time, for one finished job.
Temporary
Interim controls
Measures that temporarily reduce exposure: paint stabilization, friction and impact treatments, specialized cleaning, ongoing maintenance. They do not remove the lead and require monitoring.
24 CFR 35.110
Permanent (20+ yrs)
Abatement
"Any measure or set of measures designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint or hazards." Four methods, and they are not equal (see below).
Maintained
Lead-safe
Hazards are controlled and the home is safe to occupy, but lead-based paint remains on site. A maintained condition, often a certificate that expires. Not lead-free.
24 CFR Part 35 (LSHR)
Permanent exemption
Lead-free
No lead-based paint above threshold anywhere, confirmed by inspection. The dwelling is exempt from the Lead Safe Housing Rule going forward. The closest thing to "cleared for life."
Routine work
RRP
EPA's rule for work that disturbs paint in pre-1978 housing: lead-safe work practices and a cleaning verification, not a full clearance. Post-1978 and lead-free housing are exempt.
The cutoff
The 1978 line
Residential lead paint was banned effective 1978. Newer construction is presumptively outside the rules, and new post-1978 material is non-lead by definition.
16 CFR 1303 · EPA / HUD
What a clearance tests: three surfaces, and a bar that keeps dropping.
Clearance is a dust test, not a paint test. A technician wipes a measured area, the lab weighs the lead, and each surface has to come in under its level. Any failure and that area is recleaned and retested.
And the hazard standard went to "any detectable"
Separate from the clearance levels, EPA's 2024 reconsideration set the dust-lead hazard standard to any reportable level. There is no longer an amount of dust-lead the rule calls safe.
Passing clearance is harder than it has ever been, and the gap between "looks clean" and "passes the lab" is where jobs fail. 2024 Federal Register · EPA standards · 40 CFR 745.227(e)(8)
Room by room: where the lead actually is.
Lead was not painted evenly. It concentrated on the parts that take friction and impact, and on the bright trim colors. These are the components inspectors hit first and a renovation is most likely to disturb.
Windows
Friction surface · top priorityThe single worst source in most old homes. Opening and closing grinds painted surfaces into dust that pools in the trough.
- Sash & jamb: ground by every open and close.
- Interior sill (stool): flat dust shelf, a clearance surface.
- Trough / well: the dirtiest point in the house, a clearance surface.
- Apron & casing: trim paint, often leaded.
Doors & jambs
Friction + impactThe door edge and jamb rub and bang every day.
- Edges and the strike side wear fastest.
- Jambs and stops take impact.
- Thresholds collect tracked-in dust.
Trim, baseboards, casings
High lead probabilityWoodwork got the glossiest, most durable, most leaded paint in the house.
- Baseboards sit right where toddlers play.
- Chair rails, crown, window and door casing.
- Often many leaded layers under newer paint.
Walls & ceilings
Lower conc. · large areaUsually lower-lead than trim, but a big dust source if peeling or sanded.
- Risk rises with deterioration or dry-sanding.
- Kitchens and baths used higher-gloss paint.
Stairs, railings, porches
Impact + weatheringHand-contact and weather-exposed surfaces that chalk and shed.
- Handrails and balusters: constant hand contact.
- Treads and risers take impact.
- Porch floors and exterior trim chalk into the soil.
Soil & exterior
Reservoir, re-enters homeDecades of exterior paint chalking ends up in the yard, where kids dig.
- The drip line below windows is the hotspot.
- Tracked back inside on shoes and pets.
- Has its own soil-lead hazard standards.
Can one speck blow a clearance?
We measured the lead in 100 real lead-paint dust particles by graphite-furnace atomic absorption. The dust is 66% lead by weight. It is essentially lead powder with a little binder. So the answer is close to yes.
| One particle (size you'd see) | Lead in it | Share of a floor wipe (5 µg/ft²) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 µm (invisible) | 8 ng | 1 / 600 |
| 45 µm, our median (invisible) | 28 ng | 1 / 180 |
| 193 µm, our largest measured (barely visible) | 3,505 ng | 70% in one grain |
| ~255 µm fleck (visible) | 5 µg | an entire floor wipe, one speck |
| 1 mm chip (plainly visible) | 298 µg | 60 floor clearances |
| 1 mm³ pinch of the dust | 2,235 µg | 447 floor clearances |
Two failure modes come out of the same dust. One barely-visible speck blows the clearance number. The invisible cloud, the 13 to 40 µm particles that sail past the visual inspection at a few nanograms each, is what gets inhaled and blows the child. The field reagent lives in the gap between them: the lead-rich speck the eye misses, before the wipe goes to the lab.
A worked example: the window-replacement trough question.
A pre-1978 home, contracted as lead abatement (not RRP), where the work includes window replacement and the new window has a fresh, unpainted wood trough. Does that new wood still get sampled at clearance, even though it never held lead paint? And could you just clear before installing it? Walk the definitions and the answer is clean: it stays in the sampling, and no, you cannot clear early.
Timing
Clearance is the step after the work is done
It is "an activity conducted following lead-based paint hazard reduction activities." You cannot move it earlier, and you cannot wipe a trough that is not installed yet.
Scope
The replacement is the abatement
Abatement explicitly includes "the replacement of painted surfaces or fixtures" plus "all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and post-abatement testing." The job is not complete until the new window is in.
Method
It is a work-area dust test
You wipe floors, sills, and troughs in the work area because disturbed lead migrates as dust and settles on whatever is nearby, including the brand-new wood. That is why the trough is in the suite.
The exception
A separate install contract
If the window install is a genuinely separate contract done after the abatement is signed off, that install is its own job under RRP rules or HUD de minimis, not the original clearance. Inside the abatement scope, the new trough gets sampled.
40 CFR 745.82 · 24 CFR 35
Does a house ever get cleared for good?
Yes, but the path matters, and most "abated" homes never get there. Abatement allows four methods, and only one removes the lead.
| Abatement method | Lead still present? | Gets you to lead-free? |
|---|---|---|
| Removal (strip it off) | No | Yes, if done on all components |
| Replacement (swap the component) | No | Yes, for that component |
| Enclosure (panel over it) | Yes, behind the cover | No, lead-safe only |
| Encapsulation (bonded coating) | Yes, under the coating | No, lead-safe only |
Lead-safe (enclose / encapsulate)
- The lead is still physically in the house.
- Carries ongoing monitoring duties.
- Coatings fail, enclosures get breached, back to clearance.
- Certificates expire every 1 to 3 years.
- "I abated" does not equal "cleared for life."
Lead-free (remove / replace it all)
- No lead-based paint left above threshold.
- Certified by inspection, dwelling-wide.
- Permanently exempt from the Lead Safe Housing Rule.
- The only true off-ramp from the re-clearance treadmill.
- Still a threshold, not literal zero.
So replacing a window with post-1978 material moves that component to lead-free. But the structure is only cleared for good if a full inspection certifies no lead-based paint remains anywhere. Leave old leaded trim on the walls and the property stays in scope no matter how many windows you swap.
Is my home in the lead era?
Sources
24 CFR 35.110 — definitions.
24 CFR 35.115 — exemptions, lead-free.
24 CFR Part 35 — HUD Lead Safe Housing Rule.
40 CFR 745.223 — definition of abatement.
40 CFR 745.227(e)(8) — post-abatement clearance.
40 CFR 745.82 — RRP applicability.
EPA — hazard standards & clearance levels.
2021 Federal Register — levels 10 / 100 / 400.
2024 Federal Register — levels 5 / 40 / 100.
HUD Guidelines Ch. 15 — clearance.
Per-particle lead: DetectLead GFAAS, 100 lead-paint dust particles (Pb 283.3 nm, Zeeman).
Indicators and general information only. Not legal advice, and this page does not test your home. Clearance, abatement, and lead-free determinations must be performed by certified professionals under the applicable federal, state, and local rules, which can be stricter than the federal floor described here. The only way to know what is in your home is to test it. ZIP figures use Census ZCTA boundaries, which do not perfectly match USPS ZIP codes; some rural or low-population ZIPs return no data. Per-home and per-particle figures are population base rates and a fitted distribution, not a measurement of any individual house, and are overwritten by the first real test.