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Exposure to lead paint,
especially lead dust, is a serious health
threat to your family. Lead poisoning is one of the most
widespread environmental hazards today. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, about one child in 23 has high levels of
lead in his or her blood. Because a person cannot see, taste or smell
lead, many parents don’t realize they have a lead problem in their home,
daycare center, or school until their children become ill.
Lead was added to paint long ago to increase durability and provide
richer deeper color palettes. In 1978 lead based paint was banned
from residential use. Because of its widespread use for many years it
can still be found in homes, buildings, older painted cribs, furniture,
toys and playground equipment.
You should reduce lead paint risk in your home or workplace as soon as
you realize that danger is present. You may wish to exercise interim
controls that temporarily reduce the risk of exposure to lead hazards.
For example, you can repair damaged painted surfaces or plant grass to
cover contaminated soil. Or you may decide to reduce the risk of lead
exposure all together through a lead paint abatement process. This is
the permanent elimination of lead based paint hazards.
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Do-It-Yourself
Household Lead Test Kit
If it's Pink there's Lead
Detects Lead on Any Surface Instantly
2-Pack: 2 to 4 Tests
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A lead paint abatement typically involves...
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Removal of lead painted items such
as window frames, doors, and trim and the installation of new,
lead-free items.
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Covering of lead painted surfaces
with a stiff material such as paneling or wallboard to prevent lead
dust from getting into the environment. Enclosure also prevents
contact with the lead based paint.
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Covering of lead painted surfaces
with a special liquid coating. Once it dries, the coating prevents
contact with the lead based paint and the spread of lead dust.
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Removal of paint done either in
your home or at a paint stripping facility. Methods often used
include wet scraping, wet planing, or stripping.
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Strip lead paint safer!
Should you need the services of a professional lead
abatement contractor contact the National Lead Information Center at
(800) 424-LEAD. |
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Probability of a
house containing Lead
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Lead dust:
Forms when painted surfaces hit or rub together, when homes are
remodeled or when paint is scraped or sanded. Paint dust or chips can
cling to toy’s, fingers, and other objects children normally put into
their mouths.
Soil:
Becomes contaminated with lead due to the breakdown of lead based
paint on buildings and playground equipment. The soil near roads,
highways and garages may also contain high lead levels due to years of
gasoline exhaust emissions. Lead from the soil can also be transported
into the house on shoes.
Drinking Water:
Lead gets into drinking water when old pipes in the plumbing of a
building wear down or corrode or when lead solder is used to connect
pipes. Old homes and schools are often more at risk because pipes made
before the 1930’s may be solid lead.
Important Practices when working with Lead:
Check Federal, State and Local Regulations. The EPA and your local
community may have rules for waste disposal of lead product.
Avoid creating dust. Use low dust work practices (for example, mist
surfaces with lead clean or water before sanding or scraping).
Avoid spreading dust. Cover area under work with durable protective
sheeting (plastic or poly) that are easy to dispose of. Do not use
Canvas or Butyl dropcloths as they will become and remain contaminated
with the lead dust.
Protect the work area. Keep children and all nonessential people away.
Wear proper respiratory protection for lead dust. At clean up take dust
wipe samples to make sure the area is safe. Wash your clothes separately
from other household laundry.
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Things you should never do when
working with Lead:
Use power sanders or grinder without HEPA vacuum attachment. These
machines create a lot of dust that can contaminate a building and the
ground around a building endangering workers, neighbors and occupants.
Use open flame or high heat removal of paint. It produces toxic gases
that a HEPA dust canister on a respirator cannot filter out on its own.
It creates high levels of toxic dust that is difficult to cleanup up.
Use paint removers containing Methylene Chloride. removers containing
methylene chloride should not be used because this chemical is toxic and
is known to cause cancer.
Use uncontained hydro blasting. Removal of paint using this method can
spread paint chips, dust, and debris beyond the work area. This method
makes it difficult to cleanup up the hazardous material at the end of
the job.
Use uncontrolled abrasive blasting. This work method can also spread
paint chips, dust and debris beyond the work area. This method makes it
difficult to clean these hazards at the end of the job.
Extensive dry scraping or sanding. Extensive dry scraping or sanding
creates large amounts of paint chips, dust and debris that is hard to
contain.
Additional resources for Lead information:
The alliance for Healthy
Homes
National
Center for Healthy Housing
Office of
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
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Common precautions to exercise during removal of
lead paint
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Occupants leave the room where work will be done and stay out until
final cleanup.
DO NOT ENTER signs are taped across
doorways or other signs posted.
Protective sheeting on floor extends about 5 feet from the work area.
Masking tape, or other durable tape where masking tape doesn't work,
is used to tape protective sheeting to the baseboard under work.
Drapes, curtains, furniture, and rugs within 5 feet of work area are
removed. Furniture within 5 feet of work area that cannot be moved
is covered.
All necessary tools and supplies are placed on the protective sheeting
prior to start of work. This avoids unnecessary tracking outside
the work area.
To avoid tracking dust off the protective sheeting, wear nonskid shoe
covers and remove them each time you step off the protective sheeting. |
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More than 80 percent of the US Homes built
before 1978 contain lead based paint.
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