Healthy Home, Healthy Pet: Get the Lead Out
Lead poisoning from lead dust can impact people and pets.
Remember the Flint, Michigan water crisis? The one that began in 2014 when elevated blood levels of lead in the city’s children had doubled and sometimes tripled? The media-grabbing crisis led many communities and school systems around the country to evaluate their buildings and water supply systems for lead in drinking water.
But lead in water is only one way lead impacts people and pets. If your home (whether you rent or own) was built before 1978 when lead was banned from paint, you, your family and your pets could be at risk for lead exposure.
Lead, otherwise known as atomic 82 and the symbol Pb, is indiscriminate. It doesn’t care if your home is a Victorian, a Craftsman, a one-level concrete block home, or a multi-story apartment building in the Southwest, the Midwest, or anywhere in the U.S. If it was built before 1978, it could harbor lead from painted surfaces: interior and exterior walls (homes and garages), windows, doors, trim, radiators, cabinets, decking, porches and fences.
There is no level at which lead in the blood is “safe.” Any exposure can cause harm by damaging the brain and nervous system. Lead in the blood can slow growth and development and create learning and behavior problems. In extreme cases, lead accumulation in the blood can cause death.
Those at greatest risk include young children and pets. They spend more time on the floor or in the yard with hands or paws in their mouths. They come in contact with lead in dust created by peeling paint and paint chips that accumulates on floors, furniture, fabrics, window sills and the soil surrounding a home or fence.
Inspecting for Lead
If you live in a pre-1978 home and would like to know your lead exposure risk, start with a surface by surface inspection. There are four ways to do it.
Home test kit. These are quick, easy and low cost. They can be accurate if you follow the directions as provided. The downside is that you won’t know how much lead is present, so you won’t know the full scope of your risk.
Accredited Laboratory through the National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program. The laboratory will provide you with directions on how to collect samples and deliver them to the lab to ensure accuracy of results. The lab will be able to tell you how much lead is present and may be able to explain the results.
Certified Inspector. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), inspections can be legally performed only by certified inspectors or risk assessors. Certified professionals will determine the lead content of every painted structural part of your home (windows, walls, doors, etc.). An inspection, however, will not tell you whether the lead level is a hazard nor will the inspector be able to provide recommendations on what to do. For that, you will need an assessment.
Certified Risk Assessors. Risk assessments can be legally performed only by certified risk assessors. Certified risk assessors are trained to determine the presence, type, severity, and location of lead-based hazards such as paint, dust, soil. They will be able to suggest ways to eliminate or control lead risk.
To find a certified inspector or risk assessor use the Certified Inspection, Risk Assessment, and Abatement Firms Locator provided by the CDC.
Assessment, Abatement and RRP
A risk assessor may suggest eliminating the hazard completely. That is known as abatement. Many states, territories and tribes are authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to operate their own lead abatement programs. Check with your state, territory or tribal health department to determine if they have a lead abatement program. If not, you can look in the Lead-Based Paint Abatement and Evaluation Program: Overview | US EPA to find a certified abatement professional.
A risk assessor may suggest Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP), rather than abatement, as a means to reduce lead-based paint hazards. Note, RRP differs from abatement in that RRP activities do not eliminate the hazard completely. They are less invasive ways to control lead exposure.
Renovating, Repair and Remodeling of pre-1978 Homes
Anytime you disturb a painted surface, you run the risk of creating lead dust that can easily accumulate on vertical and horizontal surfaces and travel through air or water to other parts of your home or yard. This short video from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains lead hazards in homes.
You can do the abatement and RRP work yourself, but you will need to do it properly and safely to control the dispersion of dust and paint chips. The EPA provides detailed guidelines on what to do to protect your family, your home, your yard and community.
When you work inside you will need to remove all household items near the work area until cleanup is complete. Items that can’t be removed need to be tightly wrapped or covered in plastic and sealed with tape to prevent leaded dust from accumulating. Mechanical equipment will need to be sealed to prevent movement of lead dust to other parts of the home.
Projects outside your home require just as much care to prevent lead dust and paint chips from entering soil, water and air.
You will need a plan for disposing of all waste as it is considered hazardous.
Thinking of hiring a contractor? If you plan a disruption of greater than six square feet of lead paint, by federal law the contractor you hire (the list includes renovators, electricians, HVAC specialists, plumbers, painters) must be a Lead-Safe Certified Firm. Any employee assigned to your job must be trained.
The EPA makes it easy for contractors to train and become certified. If the contractor you’d like to hire isn’t certified, direct them to the website to get certified.
Homebuyers
Are you buying a home built before 1978? The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 passed by Congress requires sellers to do the following.
Attach a Lead Warning Statement
Provide an EPA approved information pamphlet on identifying and controlling lead-based paint hazards
Disclose any known information about lead-based paint or hazards and provide records or reports
Provide homebuyers with a 10-day period to conduct an inspection or risk assessment. (Homebuyers may waive this inspection opportunity at their own risk.)
Renters
Are you renting a home or apartment built before 1978? The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 passed by Congress requires the landlord to tell potential renters about known lead paint and lead paint hazards, including high levels of lead in dust or soil, and to provide the following three things: 1) lead warning statement, 2) a HUD-EPA information pamphlet, and 3) a lead disclosure form.
The law allows a tenant or buyer to withdraw from the lease if they don’t feel the lead conditions are satisfactory.
If you did not receive a lead disclosure when you signed a lease, you can call Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Lead Regulations hotline to make a report: 202-402-7698 or leadregulations@hud.gov.
Funding for Abatement and RRP
Lead exposure is a serious issue all around the country, and most communities are addressing the risk in some way. Many have received grants through federal, state or philanthropic sources to create programs to help low-income residents identify lead risk and address lead exposure through abatement or RRP.
Be sure to research your state’s health department programs for low-income assistance. They may provide a list of community-based organizations you can contact.
Also look into your utility company’s local low-income heating and energy assistance programs to see if they provide energy efficiency upgrades such as air sealing or new windows or doors. They may be able to access additional funds for health and safety upgrades to address lead issues.
There are some federal programs such as the Housing Preservation Grants that provide money to organizations for the rehabilitation of tribal or rural housing for low income families. Use the listings on the USDA Rural Development List of State Offices to find the office in your state to contact regarding repair loans and grants.
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative is a non-profit organization that works in several major cities to provide direct services to residents to reduce health risks in their homes. If they don’t work in your city, they may be able to direct you to resources local to you.
Healthy Homes Help Make Healthy Pets
HUD estimates that 24 million homes in the United States that were built before 1978 have peeling or chipping lead-based paint or high levels of lead in dust.
Keep yourself, your family and pets healthy. Get the lead out.