The scientific goal and major theme of Dartmouth's Superfund Basic Research Program is to investigate the way toxic metals in the environment affect ecosystems and human health. Individual projects investigate the environmental and health consequences of arsenic and other toxic metals, including mercury, nickel, cadmium and lead. Two goals of our program are to be regionally responsive and to develop programs with national impact. The Community Outreach Core is specifically designed to meet these goals by addressing the critical issue of lead exposure among children in Manchester, New Hampshire. Because of our expertise in toxic metals and our history of community involvement, our regional constituents have reached out to us to partner with them in addressing childhood lead poisoning in New Hampshire, focusing on the city of Manchester. Despite national declines in lead poisoning rates among children, many low-income families living in older, substandard housing, such as that in Manchester, continue to be at risk of lead poisoning. The goal for this project is to extend the research, expertise and resources of our program to a community partnership aimed at preventing lead paint poisoning in children. The goals of our outreach project are 1) to increase the community's access to technical assistance, relevant scientific studies on lead poisoning, and information on "best practices" in lead poisoning prevention; 2) to collaborate with our community partners and with state and federal agencies on education aimed at increasing knowledge and awareness of lead poisoning and lead paint hazard reduction, focusing not only on high-risk minority populations but those with the power to implement change; 3) to collect, synthesize, interpret and/or disseminate data to support the community's efforts to influence public policy toward primary prevention of childhood lead poisoning; 4) to provide tools and training that strengthen the community's capacity to develop and implement local solutions to the problem of childhood lead poisoning; and 5) to build new partnerships engaging a broader range of stakeholders, such as private sector interests, in addressing this preventable children's health threat.