Sellers of homes, landlords and realtors are required to disclose the presence of known lead paint and lead hazards during the sale or rental of housing. Renovation and remodeling contractors are required to warn customers of the hazards of lead paint.
Effective March 1, 2000, lead paint abatement firms must be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency, though many sources will tell you that due to safety, lead paint removal is necessary.
Painting your home may take a little bit of time and effort, but it shouldn’t leave you feeling ill. Utilizing a paint mask or respirator is a good way to keep your head and lungs clear while you sand and paint. These useful safety devices can protect you from harmful fumes, dust, pollen and other airborne particles.
If you know for sure that your next project involves any harmful gases, vapors or particles, knowing what safety equipment is available to you is vital.
Lead paint poisoning is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the metal lead in the blood, usually found in traces of paint. Lead may cause irreversible neurological damage as well as renal disease, cardiovascular effects, and reproductive toxicity.
Humans have been mining and using this heavy metal for thousands of years, poisoning themselves in the process due to accumulation and exposure. These dangers have long been known, though the modern understanding of their full extent and the small amount of lead necessary to produce them is relatively recent; blood lead levels once considered safe are now considered hazardous, with no known threshold. Reducing these hazards requires both individual actions and public policy regulations.
Lead is a naturally occurring element found in nature in the form of ores; it is a heavy, soft, malleable bluish metal. The history of its use traces back many centuries. The oldest known lead object was a statue excavated in Turkey and dated somewhere around 6500 B.C. During the Roman Empire, lead was used extensively in many aspects of life; to line vessels that stored water and wine, in utensils, and, in combined form, as a glaze on pottery.
In more recent years lead was widely used to extend the protective properties of paints, helped automobiles attain better fuel efficiency, protected occupation ally exposed workers from harmful radiation and provided a suitably dense material for ammunition and fishing weights. Even though it is no longer used in many of these applications, millions of homes remain painted with lead paint.
It’s been estimated that approximately 94% of the residential housing in San Francisco was built prior to 1978 and probably has lead-based paint. Lead-based paint chips, as well as soil and household dust contaminated with lead are the primary sources of childhood lead poisoning. Lead paint removal tools are available from several sources, particularly online.