The Environmental Protection Agency instituted tough new rules last week in an effort to combat lead poisoning in small children but advocates argue New York City landlords need to do much more to correct the problem and authorities need to do a better job of enforcement.

Lead-based paint in older homes and housing complexes remains a danger to children, who are at high risk of ingesting paint chips or otherwise coming into contact with lead-based hazards. Landlords may be held responsible in a premise liability case in instances where a child is injured as a result of lead poisoning in a New York City apartment.

The New York Times detailed the case of a 2-year-old boy who had lead levels twice the level the federal government considers at risk for lead poisoning. Lead poisoning in children can cause behavioral and learning problems. While the problem has declined in recent years -- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set a goal to eliminate it by 2010 -- eradication remains years away and is particularly worrisome in poor urban areas.

"We have to get serious about doing these things," Dr. Mary Jean Brown, the CDC's chief of lead poisoning prevention, told the Times. She said many municipalities lack hazard laws requiring landlords to check for exposed lead-based pain in homes where children are present. Even in New York City, where a comprehensive law was passed in 2004, compliance is spotty.

A survey of tenants in Brooklyn found "rampant noncompliance" among landlords; 59 percent of tenants reported that landlords had not followed the law. In 2006, about 120,000 children under 6 -- the age group considered most at risk -- tested positive for lead nationwide, down from about 890,000 in 1994. In New York City, 1,572 cases were reported among children in 2008, compared to 20,000 in 1995.

After more than 20 years of delay, the Environmental Protection Agency put a law into effect last week that requires renovation and remodeling contractors to be certified in lead-based mitigation techniques. The rules apply to buildings housing children that were built before lead paint was banned in 1978.

Still, the problem is expected to persist in New York City's lead belt -- areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island where the rates of children with elevated lead levels are the highest in the city. Advocates and New York City injury lawyers contend the underlying problem is lax enforcement of the city's 2004 law requiring landlords to conduct annual inspections and take corrective action in properties that house small children. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development said the agency issued 31,463 violations in 2009 over complaints about lead paint and did more than $6 million worth of work to correct lead hazards.