Lead Based Paint in Your Home: Safety Alert
One Call Property Services' renovators are EPA certiifed.
Lead, a poisonous substance, damages the nervous system and causes brain disorders. This naturally occurring element was added to paint to boost its color and durability, but because it causes a health risk if ingested, it was banned from residential use in 1978.
At that time, it was estimated that 90% of homes were painted with lead based paint. Even though it is no longer used , millions of homes remain painted with lead paint. Lead-based paint chips, as well as soil and household dust contaminated with lead are the primary sources of childhood lead poisoning.
In children, lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage and can impair mental functioning. It can retard mental and physical development and reduce attention span. Although eating paint chips is one way young children are exposed to lead, It is not the most common way that consumers are exposed to lead. Consumers and painting contractors can also generate lead dust by sanding lead-based paint or by scraping or heating lead-based paint. Any project that disturbs the paint through scraping, sanding or demolition can create dust that, when breathed, can cause problems.
Lead dust can settle on floors, walls, and furniture and can be ingest from hand-to-mouth contact or in food. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air through cleaning, such as sweeping or vacuuming, or by movement of people throughout the house.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepared guidelines for removing lead-based paint which were published in the Federal Register, April 18, 1990.
- Consumers should keep children and other occupants (especially infants, pregnant women, and adults with high blood pressure) out of the work area until the job is completed.
- Consumers should remove all food and eating utensils from the work area.
- Contractors should remove all furniture, carpets, and drapes and seal the work area from the rest of the house. The contractor also should cover and seal the floor unless lead paint is to be removed from the floor.
- Contractors should assure that workers wear respirators designed to avoid inhaling lead.
- Contractors should not allow eating or drinking in the work area. Contractors should cover and seal all cabinets and food contact surfaces.
- Contractors should dispose of clothing worn in the room after working. Workers should not wear work clothing in other areas of the house. The contractor should launder work clothes separately.
- Contractors should clean up debris using special vacuum cleaners with HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters and should use a wet mop after vacuuming.
- Contractors should dispose of lead-based paint waste and contaminated materials in accordance with state and local regulations.
Lead-based Painting Contractors Must be EPA Certified
If you’re a painting contractor or individual who does any type of repair or renovation work on houses built before 1978, you’ll need to become an EPA-certified renovators. The requirement begins December 31, 2010. The Renovation, Repair and Painting, or RRP, rules do not apply to homeowners or occupants working in their own home or apartment.
The federal regulation requires certification for renovation or repair work that disturbs 6 sq. ft. inside or 20 sq. ft. outside a home where children younger than six years old live or visit regularly. Child-care facilities and schools also fall under this new regulation. In addition to following specific work practices, contractors must provide homeowners with lead-hazard information pamphlets.
