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Does my home contain lead-based paint? 

Jan 10, 2024 10:48:00 AM / by David C Sulock posted in Lead, lead paint, Lead paint inspections, NJ Lead safe, lead visual inspection, lead risk assessment, NJ Lead Law, lead paint wipe sample, NJ Lead Safe cert

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Where do you find lead in a home?

It is found in the air (briefly), soil (brought in from outside), dust (the rubbing of painted surfaces generates dust that can contain lead), and the paint (typically beneath newer coats of latex paint, that will chip off or lose adhesion from the building material substrate) of some homes or buildings built before 1978 (Lead paint was banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1978). It has been well-established that exposure to lead can cause serious health problems.

 What are popular times when lead paint was used?

Lead in paint was popularized during colonial times for use in interiors and exteriors of homes, due to its durability. 

 Why was lead even added to paint and stains?

Think about painting, do you want the paint or stain to dry fast, so you can add a second coat or just to put stuff back in the room?   Do you want the paint or stain to be water resistant so if you leave a window open and water hits the window well or sill it resists water damage?   Do you want the surface to be durable and wear like iron, ahem lead. How about making the surfaces washable?   All these desirable features were obtained when you added lead to paint and stain.

 Does my home contain lead-based paint?How can I tell if my home contains lead-based paint?

 What is the most common lead exposure to humans?

Lead dust is the most common way that people are exposed to lead. Inside the home, most lead dust comes from chipping and flaking paint or when paint is scraped, sanded, or disturbed during home remodeling. Chipping and peeling paint are found mostly on surfaces that rub or bump up against another surface.

 

Identifying Lead Paint: What Does Lead Paint Look Like?

 

Which route of exposure is the most common for lead?

Lead exposure in humans and most importantly in children occurs primarily through ingestion. On a normal day dust can be generated by rubbing of leaned coated surfaces, such as doors, windows, and floors (yes lead was used in stains and the friction on floors wears them down and generates dust). This dust can enter your body by touching it and hand-to-mouth activity.

Young children crawling on the floor and playing on the floor are exposed to the dust making it the most common route of exposure. Lead also has a sweet taste so hand to mouth activity of young children is increased due to the flavor profile.   Adults are less likely to be crawling on the floor or chewing on paint chips, but if the dust is airborne from cleaning, lead can be inhaled. If dust is on an adult's hand and hand-to-mouth action incurs lead can be ingested.   Renovation of buildings that contain lead, including component removal and replacement, sanding for painting, demolition, etc. will generate dust that can be inhaled or ingested.  

Where is lead hiding?

It can be found in dirt and dust, some things we eat, paint in old houses, and contaminated water. Even very small amounts of lead are not safe for children. Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body, often over months or years. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems.

 Should I have a lead paint inspection performed?

You have to ask yourself if you know where lead is or isn't how is that information going to be used?

A lead paint inspection would tell you where lead is or isn't.  Any construction, repair, or renovation work can disturb lead paint and produce lead dust.  Lead dust inhaled or ingested has well-documented health effects in humans and children in particular.    So knowing where lead is when disturbing building materials has huge value.

How do you remove lead dust from a house?

You can use a special vacuum cleaner called a High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter (HEPA) vacuum to clean up lead dust. The HEPA vacuum has a special filter that can pick up and hold small pieces of lead. Another option is to use a wet/dry vacuum in the wet setting to clean up the wash or rinse water.

Lead Questions? Call the Experts

856-858-9509

 What houses have lead poisoning?

Any house or apartment built before 1978 could have lead paint. Houses and apartments built before 1960 have the most lead paint. Common household repairs (like painting or fixing a door that sticks to the doorframe) can produce lead dust or paint chips. This dust and paint chips can contain lead.

Do all homes built before 1978 have lead?

In the environmental industry, you presume it is present until proven otherwise, so the answer is you presume it to be present.   That said although the paint was banned lead paint still existed and may be brought to a home built in 1979 from a home built before 1978. You may also have an heirloom piece (an old fixture of some sort from a pore 1978 home installed in your post-1978 home that has lead paint or varnish. Think doors, old windows, corner cabinets, mantels, etc..

How to know if you have lead paint

I gutted my house, how can it still have lead?

As you scrape, drill, cut, open walls, remove trim, demolish, or perform other renovation activities, you create dust that may contain lead and may remain in the dwelling. Think about lead touching every surface (lead paint on wood, plaster, stairs, etc.), and lead stain or varnish on floors, stairs, and doors.   Now think, did you remove all these surfaces?   Did you gut the closets, and replace the stairs, including your painted basement stairs? How about painted surfaces in the basement? Basement walls, stairs, ceiling, windows, are they painted with lead paint?

The timeline below shows how popular lead paint was in the United States. Clearly, as you approach 1978 lead usage decreased.

Lead paint testing

 

Lead Questions? Call the Experts

856-858-9509

 

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What Happens if a Lead Dust Wipe Sample Fails?

Oct 10, 2023 1:35:00 PM / by David C Sulock posted in lead paint, Lead paint inspections, NJ Lead Safe Law, Lead wipe sample, lead paint wipe sample

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HUD's New Final Rule, 24 CFR 35, dictates that lead dust should be below the following standards:

Less than 10 µg/ft2 (micrograms of lead per square foot) on floors, 100 µg/ft2 on windowsills. 

100 µg/ft2 on window troughs

  lead dust wipe sample

When a lead wipe sample fails, it indicates that lead dust is present on the surface sampled.

The lead risk assessor should be able to point to the causes of the wipe failure so appropriate corrective action can be implemented.  To be practical, you are not wipe sampling when deteriorated paint is present.  So, when a wipe sample fails you must look to see how many failed.  Is it systemic through the property or in an isolated area?  So if you have four (4) floor samples and one fails, it needs to be evaluated as to why only one failed. 

 

lead paint wipe sample

The amount of lead that meets clearance criteria is a very minimal quantity and is often not visually seen with the naked eye. In recent years the lead dust limit for floors was four (4) times higher than its current standard. This could lead to failures if surfaces were not properly cleaned, even when deteriorated paint is not present.   All wipe sampling represents a snapshot in time regarding lead on a given surface. Once failure has occurred the area must be cleaned or recleaned until post-cleaning wipe samples meet criteria. A successful method of cleaning involves sequential cycles of HEPA vacuuming and wet wiping surfaces. Wet wiping can be performed with cleaning compounds specific to lead.  Lead dust is chemically sticky, so utilizing a  cleanser to break the chemical bond is critical.

You may find the lead dust is from deteriorated paint, which would require abatement or interim controls.  Interim controls are a set of measures designed to reduce temporary human exposure or likely exposure to lead-based paint hazards, including specialized cleaning, repairs, maintenance, painting, temporary containment, and ongoing monitoring of lead-based paint hazards or potential hazards. You can think of interim controls as dust removal, paint stabilization, and/or control of friction/abrasion points on building materials that are in good condition and repairable.     Seriously deteriorated surfaces that cannot be “repaired” will require replacement/abatement. 

 When the order is for interim controls, the following criteria shall apply:

1. The person performing the interim controls shall: Complete training in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hazard Communication requirements at 29 CFR 1910.1200 (see (a)1i and ii above, have successful completion of training as a certified renovator for New Jersey through the Department of Community Affairs;

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certifies Renovation, Repair, and Painting contractors. These firms are certified to perform renovation, repair, and painting projects that address lead-based paint in homes and childcare facilities. This work is often involved in interim control methods. Information may be found online at: https://www.epa.gov/lead/leadrenovation-repair-and-painting-program .

2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule beginning April 22, 2010, firms performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, childcare facilities, and kindergartens built before 1978 must be EPA- or state-certified and must use certified renovators who follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

After interim control and or cleaning is performed, the space to be sampled should be kept closed to human entry prior to performing post-wipe sampling. This ensures accurate wipe sample results that are free of outside sources of lead.

If lead wipe samples fail as part of a Risk Assessment in New Jersey under the NJ Lead Safe Law, landlords have 30 days to address the problem so reinspection and sampling can be performed.

If the unit is occupied where a wipe sample failed, the lead risk assessor or the certified evaluator thought there was a serious problem, the evaluator or the local health department could do a complete lead hazard investigation and make a decision on occupancy.   

Call the Lead Experts

888-301-1050

 

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