Dwell360 Lead Paint Guide

Lead Paint Guide Learn. Inspect. Protect.

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Learn about Lead paint

As a buyer, seller, current or prospective homeowner, renter, or landlord, it is imperative to learn about lead paint and the effect it has on our homes and health.

What is Lead paint?

Lead paint is a paint containing lead chromate or carbonate as pigments. The added lead also increased drying speed, durability, maintained a fresh appearance, and resisted moisture.

Therefore, it became widely used for domestic purposes such as interior painting. While some countries today still use lead based paints, the United States and United Kingdom have regulations prohibiting usage.

What is the Lead paint LaW?

Photo courtesy of Everson, Bart. (February 19, 2008). Flaking Paint [image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ editor/2280374318/.

The Lead Law requires the removal or covering of lead paint hazards in homes built before 1978 where any children under six live. Lead paint hazards include loose lead paint and lead paint on windows or other surfaces accessible to children. If a home is found to not be in compliance with the lead law and a child under the age of six is currently in residence or will be in residence, the home must be deleaded or brought under interim control within 90 days of taking the home’s title.

What is the Lead poisoning?

Lead poisoning is a disease affecting all types of people, but is most dangerous to children.

Lead poisoning can cause permanent damage to a child’s brain, kidneys, and nervous system, as well as result in serious learning and behavior problems. Affected children can also have stunted growth and damaged red blood cells.

Lead poisoning typically occurs when children swallow lead paint dust; they do not have to chew on leaded surfaces or eat paint chips to become poisoned. Most poisoning happens through typical child behaviors such as chewing on toys or putting hands in their mouths. If their bodies or toys have been exposed to lead dust, they can ingest it and become poisoned.

Soil and water can also be contaminated with lead; children can be exposed if they eat vegetables or fruit grown in such soil or if the soil is tracked into the home and ingested by the child.

Most children who have lead poisoning have no symptoms, and usually a blood test is required to determine lead levels. Massachusetts requires annual lead testing for all children between the ages of 9 months and 4 years. If a parent or caregiver is unsure if their child has been tested for lead, they should consult with their doctor.

Cover photo source: Wikimedia Commons. Peeling Paint . Retrieved from http://goo.gl/T3JS1M .

Lead Paint Guide

Once diagnosed with lead poisoning, the first step is removing the hazard from the child’s environment. Moving forward, medical treatment is often dependent on the lead levels in the child’s bloodstream. Special drugs can be administered for as long as several weeks to remove toxicity. Afterwards, the child will need to have frequent blood tests to look for further signs of lead, and should be monitored or even tested for learning disorders.

are chiLdren the onLy ones at risk With Lead?

While the effects on children are more severe, lead is harmful to anyone it comes in contact with.

An unborn child can be harmed should the mother come in contact with or ingest lead while pregnant. Lead poisoning in adults can cause high blood pressure, fertility complications, digestive problems, nerve disorders, memory loss, problems concentrating, and muscle and joint pain. For adults, most lead poisoning occurs through occupational hazards or home renovation.

Even hobby supplies such as stained glass, bullets, and fishing sinkers can expose people to lead.

Those who are exposed to lead due to their job are required by law to have blood screenings for lead once a year.

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2 testing for Lead In order to determine lead levels, the home in question should be professionally tested by a licensed inspector.

testing paint for Lead Just because an entire house is painted, doesn’t mean everything is painted with the same paint. As such, some places could be contaminated with lead while others can be clean. Each different surface should be tested; walls, window frames, doors, and more. Interior and exterior should all be considered separately.

Professionals typically use two methods to test for lead in paint: • X-ray fluorescence (XRF): Portable detectors x-ray a painted surface to measure the amount of lead in layers in paint. Keep in mind that painting over a lead paint does not eliminate the problem; lead will just contaminate the new paint at the surface layer. Most home owners prefer XRF testing because it disturbs little if any paint and the results are instantly read by the inspector.

•

Laboratory testing: Paint samples are removed from each surface to be tested using this method. An area of about two square inches is removed and sent to a laboratory for analysis. There will be a bare spot left on each surface where the paint was removed.

testing househoLd dust for Lead Similar to how paint is tested, household dust is analyzed by a laboratory. Household dust can contain particles of lead released from lead painted surfaces or tracked in from contaminated soil outside the home.

A wet wipe is used to wipe along different surfaces, such as bare floors, window sills, and so on. Each sample is collected with a different wipe on a measured surface area of each section and then sent off for analysis at a laboratory.

testing Water for Lead

Household water can become contaminated with lead from old pipes containing lead or lead solder in plumbing. Water samples can simply be taken directly from the faucet. Typically inspectors will collect two samples. One is taken from water that has been standing in the pipes overnight or for eight hours or longer. The second is taken after letting the water run for several minutes to flush the lines. The samples are then sent off for analysis at a laboratory.

testing soiL for Lead

Lead may be in the soil surrounding a home near streets or highways. To test the soil for lead, samples are taken from where children may potentially play or where the dirt is most likely to be tracked into the home. Then the samples are sent off to a laboratory for analysis.

Lead Paint Guide

utiLizing diy & home Lead tests

Home testing kits for lead often use a chemically treated swab that changes color when coming in contact with lead. The swabs most commonly contain rhodizonate and sulfide; rhodizonate will turn red or pink when in contact with lead while sulfide will become brown or black.

While kits are inexpensive and widely available for purchase, they are often not recommended when determining lead levels or making decisions about a property. In 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) evaluated several home test kits on a variety of paints and different levels of lead. More than half the tests produced false negatives and two tests produced false positives. The kits could have been affected by other substances such as iron, tin, or dirt, causing the colors in the kit to change or hide, interfering with accurate results. Some of the tests also had varying times to produce results, ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. As such, professionals should be used when testing for lead. They are able to use more accurate technologies, such as x-ray fluorescence, which aren’t available to the public.

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617-762-4080

3 removing Lead from the home Once lead is found on your property, it is imperative to remove it as required by Massachusetts Lead Law if children under six will be living in the home.

The lead law can be complied with in one of two ways: • All lead hazards must be removed or covered. With this method, a Letter of Full Compliance will be issued once the work is approved. • Urgent lead hazards must be corrected and remaining hazards must be controlled. This falls under a term known as interim control. Owners would then receive a Letter of Interim Control, allowing them up to two years before they must have the remaining lead hazards removed or covered to accomplish full compliance.

Lead Paint Guide

It is imperative that lead removal is tackled by a licensed professional. Although owners can be certified to remove lead from their property, it is certainly recommended to allow someone trained in lead removal to deal with this hazardous task.

During any form of lead removal, there are certain precautions that need to be taken to ensure safety. Residents must be out of the house for the entire time that a contractor is deleading a home. They may be allowed to stay at home if certain deleading tasks such as interim control work like structural repairs or lead dust cleaning occur. In order to return home, the deleading work must be completed and cleaned up after, as well as checked by a lead inspector to ensure proper completion. renting?

There is financial help through the state for deleading.

Each unit that is deleaded qualifies for a $1,500 income tax credit. A credit of up to $500 is available per unit when interim control work is used to contribute to full deleading. Property owners may also be able to inquire about grants, no-interest deferred loans, or low interest loans that are available through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Communities and Development, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Authority, local community development departments, and banks.

Landlords are required to comply with the law if children or pregnant women will be tenants in their property. For more information on tenants' rights consult the Mass.gov website’s Massachusetts Lead Law and Legal Documents section.

While deleading is important due to lead’s dangerous nature, there are some exemptions included in the Massachusetts Lead Law. Any home or apartment having fewer than 250 square feet of living space, or which is in a rooming house, is exempt under the assumption that no child under the age of six is in residence. Homes rented for 31 days or less for vacation or recreational purposes are also exempt as long as there is no chipping or peeling lead paint in the home and the renter has received the Short-Term Vacation Rental Notification.

Lead exposure is serious business, and homeowners should be well informed as to how to protect themselves, their loved ones, and any tenants they may have . Stay safe!

Sources: Massachusetts Health and Human Services. What Does the Massachusetts Lead Law Require?. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/ eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/environmental-health/exposure-topics/lead/lead/massachusetts-lead-law-requirement.html.

Wikipedia. Lead paint. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_paint.

Home Safe Environmental. Fact Sheets about Lead. Retrieved from http://www.leadpro.com/factsheet.html.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) Property Transfer Lead Notification.

Conger, Cristen. (April 13, 2009). Do home lead tests really work?. Retrieved from http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/ household-safety/tips/home-lead-tests1.htm.

United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. (October 22, 2007). CPSC Staff Study: Home Lead Test Kits Unreliable. Retrieved from http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/2008/CPSC-Staff-Study-Home-Lead-Test-Kits-Unreliable/.

Soults Walker, Jan. (March 25, 2011). Lead Paint Removal: Options and Costs. Retrieved from http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/ painting/lead-paint-removal/.

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What if the inspector finds evidence of termites?

If your inspector sees signs of termite activity (or other household pests), he will recommend a complete pest inspection or treatment if it is deemed necessary.

The mere mention of termites can strike fear into the hearts of homeowners. Most people know that termite infestation can cause severe damage to a home's structure. It can also cost thousands of dollars to eliminate the pests and repair any damage.