Lead Paint Is Still a Major Hazard

12/27/2018 (Permalink)

We know that lead is dangerous, yet the World Health Organization estimates that there are over 140,000 lead poisoning deaths per year worldwide.  And there are over 600,000 new cases of lead poisoning annually in children with intellectual disabilities caused by lead exposure, mostly in low and middle income countries.  However, our kids in the U. S. are not safe if they are exposed to lead in paint. in older homes built prior to 1978.

Even at low levels of exposure, lead affects the development of a child’s brain and causes behavioral changes including a shortened attention span and anti-social behavior both in and out of school. As most of us have experienced, children put almost everything in their mouth and the pathogens in lead are easily transmitted.

In 1971, the federal Lead Poisoning Prevention Act was passed, and in 1978, the federal government banned consumer uses of lead paint. Builders of homes and commercial buildings were no longer able to use lead-based paint, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a final ban on lead-containing paint and on toys and furniture coated with such paint.

In 1996 the U.S. government issued the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Regulation by which all

owners of homes built prior to 1978 are required to inform potential buyers of all known information on the presence of lead based paint in the home.

Still, there are still thousands of children developing health problems every year from lead exposure in pre-1978 houses and other older buildings. However, they are not the only ones affected. Construction workers and employees in homes and buildings that are not cleaned are also affected, and in many cases they bring the problem home to their children.

Here at SERVPRO we do lead mitigation in homes and buildings and have been for many years. Under OSHA Regulations all people working on a lead mitigation job must wear protective clothing and all clothing and equipment must be repaired or replaced as needed to maintain its safety and effectiveness.  In addition, all protective clothing must be removed at the end of a work shift in changing rooms that include showers provided for that purpose.

All SERVPRO technicians who work with lead issues must go through the Renovation, Repair, Painting certification program (RRP) and know the OSHA Regulations before they can even step into a clean room to start a job.

If you know anyone who has a home built prior to 1978 and they have children or are newlyweds buying and possibly rehabbing an older home, tell them that they should have the home checked for lead-based paint.

Call SERVPRO of Biddeford -Saco at 207-283-4428.

Thanks to the World Health Organization for all the data.