Lead-Paint in homes built before 1978

Children can suffer barely noticable to serious injury from exposure to lead-based paint.  Adults and pets can also be harmed.  Children 7 years old or younger and pregnant women are more likely to suffer health problems if exposed to lead based paint.  If your a parent living in a home built before 1978 keeping your children safe from lead poisoning requiers more than just making sure they are not putting paint chips in their mouth.  It is the lead dust from old failing paint in your home that you can not see or can barely see that is the fastest way for lead to get into the blood and cause lead poisoning. 

Exposure to high levels of lead can be particularly damaging to children whose nervous systems are still developing and to pregnant women, whose unborn children are growing. Children with these high lead levels can suffer from nervous system damage, behavioral problems, learning problems, slowed growth, headaches and other debilitating conditions. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working for three decades to reduce exposure to lead in lead paint, and on April 22, 2010, new federal laws will require all contractors “performing renovation, repair or painting projects that disturb lead based pain to be certified and to follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.  We have taken the necessary steps to become certified within the new EPA regulations.

Contractors today must jump through numerous hurdles to guarantee that they are meeting these rigorous safety standards when working with lead paint in homes, businesses and other child related facilities. Thousands of workers performing renovations will have to be trained and certified as “Renovators” by EPA-accredited trainers. Paint professionals and other home improvement professionals will be trained in how to effectively protect household items and how to seal floor coverings from potential contamination while work is in progress. In addition, training will be given in how to use high-powered equipment while working with lead paint and how to contain the dust that accumulates during renovations.  The business or homeowner should ask prospective contractors the status of their EPA licensing.  Be sure and read the "renovate right booklet"  your contractor is required to provide. 

If your home or property was built before 1978 there is a chance that lead paint is present, possibly even in the soil that surrounds your property.

For adults, lead paint can be the cause of the following effects:

· Muscle and joint pain

· Nerve disorders

· Fertility problems for both men and women

· Digestive problems

· High blood pressure

· Problems with memory and concentration

· Sexual disorders

According to a search of this subject using Google, it appears the hazards of lead-based paint have been known since the before the early 1900s, when the use of lead in the manufacture of paint was banned in Australia. The lead mining and lead paint pigment industries in the United States were able, however, to postpone the banning of the use of lead in the manufacture of paint until 1978.  Other than in old paint, lets not forget leaded gasoline.  Leaded gasoline was not phased out completly until 1996 although the phase out began in 1973.  Prior to the complete phase out, leaded gasoline was the major source of lead found in the air, dust and in dirt.  Now that gas is unleaded, the most common cause of lead poisoning in children is deteriorating (chipping and peeling) lead-based paint on the exterior and interior of residences where the afflicted child lives. When lead-based paint deteriorates, the deteriorated lead-based paint becomes lead paint chips (which can be eaten by children) and lead-contaminated paint dust (which can be ingested by children during normal teething, hand-mouth behavior, or putting dusty items in their mouths). Because without having the paint tested a tenant can never know for sure whether deteriorating paint contains lead, the following precautions should be taken by a tenant with children under the age of seven:

1. Make sure your child receives a blood-lead test at each pediatric check-up at least until age 7
2. obtain immediate emergency care for any child who exhibits the following symptoms:
   • sluggish behavior
   • apathy
   • headaches
   • staring periods
   • tremors
   • seizures
   • loss of consciousness
   • abdominal cramps
   • loss of appetite
   • constipation
   • irritability
   • hyperactive behavioral