In a ruling issued Thursday, the EPA is cracking down on lead paint dust that remains in millions of homes and poses a health risk to young children.

The Biden administration is imposing strict new limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities.

The federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in residences in 1978, but it is estimated that 31 million houses built before the ban still contain lead-based paint. Of those houses, 3.8 million have one or more children under of the age of six living there.

Any level of lead paint dust in is considered hazardous, according to new requirements for identifying and cleaning up the harmful dust in certain homes and child-care facilities across the country, finalized Thursday by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced the finalization of a rule that declares any detectable amount of the toxin in a home or child care center to be hazardous.

The Biden administration said Thursday that it was strengthening requirements for homes and child-care facilities to remove lead-based paint dust, a move that could better protect more than 300,000 children a year from the toxic metal.

Paint that contains lead was banned in 1978, but more than 30 million American homes are believed to still contain it, including nearly 4 million homes where children under the age of 6 live.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized tighter standards for removing lead paint dust in older homes and child care centers to prevent long-term health effects from exposure to lead.