What it means for you
Since Nov. 5, 2026, NYC has treated lead dust as a hazard at 4 micrograms per square foot on floors, down from 5. The 32 µg/ft² windowsill limit applies to investigations and clearance tests; the 80 µg/ft² window-well limit applies only after lead work.
Who benefits: New Yorkers, especially young children, in homes or other locations the Health Department investigates for lead dust, and occupants of dwellings that require clearance testing after lead-paint work.
Lead-based paint and the dust it creates are the most common sources of lead exposure among New York City children. The city now counts dust as lead-contaminated at 4 micrograms per square foot on floors, 32 on windowsills, and 80 in window wells, each 20% below the previous limit. A reading at the limit counts as contaminated.
You do not have to apply. The floor and windowsill limits apply when the Health Department investigates a location and during required clearance testing after covered lead-paint work. The window-well limit applies only to clearance testing. A work area cannot be cleared for permanent re-occupancy until every sample is below the applicable limit. Owners must give occupants copies of the clearance results, and laboratories analyzing the samples must have both federal NLLAP recognition and New York State ELAP certification.
The Health Department proposed the change in May 2026 after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tightened its dust standards. City law allows the Board of Health to set stricter limits and requires lower thresholds when federal standards fall. No one testified at the July public hearing, and the city received six written comments. The Board adopted the rule on Sept. 17, 2026, and it took effect Nov. 5.
Health careHousingSafety
Sources
- Amendment of Rules Relating to Lead DustNYC Rules, City of New York, October 5, 2026
- Notice of Adoption of Amendment to Article 173 of the New York City Health CodeNYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, October 5, 2026
- NYC Adopts Stricter Lead Dust Thresholds: What Property Owners, Contractors, and Inspectors Need to KnowCNS Environmental
- Lead Poisoning — Information for Residential Building OwnersNYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
How we checked this
Drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) on November 12, 2026. Checked against its sources by GPT-5.6-sol (OpenAI) on November 12, 2026, which corrected it. Confirmed the adopted thresholds, Sept. 17 adoption, Nov. 5 effective date, rulemaking credit, and current status. Narrowed several claims to the rule’s actual testing contexts and removed a source that gave the wrong effective date.
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