Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint that can be injurious to human health, especially the health of young children.
If your home was built before 1978 and you are planning to renovate, remodel or repaint, if children under the age of six live in your pre-1978 home, if you are buying or renting a home built before 1978, if you are selling a home built before 1978 or if you rent residences to tenants in a building built before 1978, this article may have information that you will need.
The emphasis here on the year 1978 is intended because prior to this date, no federal regulations limited the amount of lead in paint. Health experts have since realized the dangers posed by unhealthy levels of lead, and in 1978, the federal government responded to these concerns by limiting the amount of lead that could be added to paint sold for residential use. Pre-1978 paint is not harmful in and of itself, but when painted surfaces are disturbed by remodeling or renovation or when the paint peels, chips or flakes, particles containing lead are released into the air. These particles pose a serious health hazard, particularly to young children if inhaled or ingested in sufficient quantities. High lead blood levels can cause lead poisoning, a disease associated with irreversible neurological damage, renal disease, deleterious cardiovascular effects and reproductive toxicity.
What Is It?
There are three methods of testing for lead in a home: (1) a lead-based paint inspection (2) a lead risk assessment and (3) a lead hazard screen.
A lead-based paint inspection involves testing all painted surfaces in a home to detect the presence or absence of lead. The procedure begins with an inventory of every painted surface both inside and outside a home, including painted walls beneath wallpaper. A painted surface is defined by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as one that is painted or coated with paint, varnish, shellac or stains. Outside the home, buildings like garages, barns and sheds and structures like fences and children’s play sets, if painted, are also inventoried. Painted furniture is not inventoried unless it is built-in, like bookshelves or kitchen cabinets.
When the inventory is complete, the tester decides which surfaces will be sampled and analyzed because it is impractical to examine samples from every surface. For example, if three painted wooden windowsills are in the same room, only one sill may be tested if the assumption is made that they were all painted with the same paint. After the selected surfaces are sampled, the samples are then sent to a laboratory to be analyzed for lead content. Soil, dust and water tests are generally not included in this type of inspection.
Typical painted surfaces that are tested during an inspection can include any or all of the following:
- Baseboards, heating units
- Built-in cabinets, shelving, railings
- Ceilings, floors, walls, stairs
- Chair rails, doors, door trim, windows
- Fireplaces, chimneys
- Mailboxes, porches, fences, handrails, lattice work, exterior stairs, handrails
- Fascia, soffits, roofing, siding, gutters, downspouts
- Sheds, garages, swing sets.
The report generated by the laboratory will tell you surface by surface if there is or if lead is not present. The report should also indicate the quantity present. (Be sure to ask for a quantitative report to prove the work was actually done.) The presence of lead does not necessarily mean that a health hazard exists; however, if the report indicates the presence of lead, you may want to proceed to the second type of inspection to determine if there is a health risk. Your tester will be happy to interpret the test results for you and explain the significance of findings.
The second method of testing for lead, a lead risk-assessment, provides a greater degree of specificity with respect to the existence of a lead health hazard. This assessment takes place inside and outside the home to determine the presence, type, severity and location of any lead-based paint hazard. The interior focus is on deteriorating paint, house dust and the possibility that there is lead in the water. The exterior focus is on soil that may contain unhealthy lead levels. If young children are living in the home, the inspector looks for every factor that might create a situation for exposure to lead. For example, if a painted surface shows teeth marks or the parents report that their child licks or gnaws specific painted areas, these are sampled for analysis.
In addition to sampling surfaces with deteriorating paint, household dust samples are taken from doors, windows, children’s bedrooms and playrooms, the primary entrance to the home and any other areas deemed important by the tester. Next, soil samples are taken from bare areas devoid of vegetation, from play areas and from around the foundation of the home. When all the samples are collected, they are sent to a laboratory for analysis. The findings will be contained in a report that the certified Risk Assessor will use to explain how you can reduce, control or abate dangerous lead levels.
Based on the findings in the report, the inspector will suggest short- and long-term actions that you can implement to reduce, control, or abate lead levels. Short-term actions are things like repairing and repainting deteriorated or peeling paint and dusting and cleaning the house more often. The assessor will also look for any situations, such as a leaking roof, that may be causing a painted surface to flake and peel, then offer suggestions for actions that you can take to prevent reoccurrence. Long-term solutions for abating lead hazards are permanent changes such as replacing old windows or excavating and removing lead contaminated soil.
Several caveats are associated with the risk-assessment method. First, it is important to note that as thorough as the process is, a conclusion that no lead paint is present in the home would be false because only paint that is loose, flaking or peeling is tested. You may still have intact lead paint elsewhere. Second, the inspection only reports on the conditions at the time of the inspection; a new hazard could begin when a new area of paint begins to deteriorate. Finally, if you want to know which painted surfaces contain lead-based paint in addition to whether or not a lead hazard exists, you will have to have both an inspection and a risk assessment.
The third method of lead testing is called a lead hazard screen. This method is a kind of all or nothing proposition in the sense that the findings will determine that either you probably do not have lead-based paint hazards in you home at the time of testing or that you need a full-scale risk assessment (method two above). This type of testing is most appropriate for homes built after 1960 that are in good condition generally and with little visible dust and no peeling or flaking paint. It is a limited version of the risk-assessment model and suitable for homes that have a low risk of high-lead levels. Like the risk assessment model, the lead screen will identify current lead-based paint hazards only; it cannot conclude that a home will be forever free from lead hazards since lead-based paint could become disturbed or deteriorate in the future. A lead hazard screen involves testing any deteriorating painted surface; taking two sets of samples of dust (one set from floors, the other set from windows); and obtaining samples from soil around the house only if paint chips are in it from a previous repainting (otherwise, no soil samples are usually taken). When analysis is complete and the report returned, the assessor will interpret the findings for you and make pertinent recommendations.
