Bust Lead Dust

In our last post, we discussed steps homeowners should take when hiring a contractor to remodel their pre-1978 built home. But what if you are doing the work yourself, even a simple painting job in an older home?

Don’t risk your family’s health. Have your home tested for lead by an environmental testing company. You need to know if you’ll be disturbing old layers of lead paint so you can take appropriate steps to keep your family safe.

If remnants of lead paint are found, follow these precautions:

Evacute vulnerable family members. While you are working, be sure children younger than seven, pregnant women and pets leave for the day. Even a speck of lead dust can cause irreversible damage to them. They can return to the house after the work has stopped and the area is thoroughly cleaned.

Contain the area. Close the doors leading to the work area. Then use 4-6 mil plastic sheeting and painter’s tape to seal off the area, even over the doors. Seal all duct work in the area with the plastic sheeting and painter’s tape. Your goal is to prevent lead dust from contaminating the rest of your house.

Dress for success. Look for a mask or respirator with a N95 rating or higher, which filters out very fine particles. And be sure you wear it for the entire time you are working and cleaning. Also, buy a Tyvek suit to protect your clothes. If the work takes more than a day, leave the Tyvek suit in the contained area. And be sure to cover your feet with booties, which also should never leave  the contained area. Once you remove the Tyvek suit and the booties, head to your washing machine, strip, and wash your clothes.

Avoid sanding. Lead dust accounts for most of the 250,000 pediatric lead poisoning cases a year. Sanding releases fine lead dust particles, which fly through your air, infiltrating your house. Unfortunately, they stay in the air for a long time. Therefore, sand as little as possible.

Time to clean. First, sweep up as much of the dust and debris as you can and put it into a plastic bag, which you then seal with painter’s tape. Use a HEPA vacuum to remove any remaining lead dust particles. Then use warm water and clean rags to wash all surfaces. Every exposed surface must be cleaned well.

When the work is done, have another lead test performed by a professional testing company. Click here for more information or to schedule a lead test.

Yay! Spring arrives Tuesday, which means the start of the home remodeling season. But if you live in a pre-1978 built home, your first call — before you call a contractor — should be to an environmental testing company to have your home tested for lead.

What’s the significance of the 1978 date? That was the year lead paint was removed from interior paints in the United States. And why should you care? Because annually, 34 years after lead paint was banned, 250,000 children are still being poisoned by the paint that remains. And this is not just an inner-city problem. Lead poisoning knows no economic bounds.

Unless you know where lead is lurking, your contractor can unknowingly release toxic lead dust into the air. And if a professional lead inspection firm finds lead remnants in your home, be sure your contractor is certified in lead-safe work practices.

Under a recent Renovation, Repair, and Paint rule (RRP) enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) almost two years ago, all work performed on painted surfaces in a pre-1978 built home must follow a strict protocol.

The company that does your work – from a simple painting job to a full-house renovation – must be a certified in lead-safe work practices by the Environmental Protection Agency. Do not let a tradesperson tell you certification is not needed. It is. Uncertified tradespeople should not be working in an environment that contains lead paint, and if caught, face a stiff fine and will be forced to stop work in your home.

The work area in a leaded environment needs to be sealed off from the remainder of the living space. At the end of the day, the contractor is required to thoroughly clean the area in accordance with EPA guidelines.
Certified tradespeople have to document the work they perform and file a report at the end of the project.
Once the work is performed, the next and very important step is to have the environmental testing firm conduct a second lead test to be sure your home is 100 percent lead free.

Click here to schedule a lead test.

Right about now, visions of gorgeous flowers and a bountiful crop of vegetables are dancing in gardeners’ heads.

It’s almost time to start turning over the garden soil. But have you ever thought about soil testing to be sure your soil is free of lead? Lead in soil is a very common problem, especially if you live in a pre-1978 built home or in a neighborhood of older homes.

So how does lead get in your soil? When your older home’s exterior is painted, the first step is sanding, which spews lead dust through the air, landing on your property. Flaking paint chips can also be ground into the soil, or in some cases, paint can peel right off the home. Also, if the home’s interior is painted and sanded, often windows are left open to disburse the dust. And guess where that lead dust falls? In your yard.

More than 250,000 children are poisoned each year by lead.

There are steps you can take to lessen the dangers of lead poisoning. Most importantly, hire a certified lead inspector to test your garden to see if your soil contains lead. Your garden may be lead free. But then again, it might not be. Is it worth poisoning your children?

Some other steps you can take:

• Position the garden as far away as possible from any pre-1978 built homes.
• Consider bed gardening, which raises the garden above soil level. And then fill with clean garden soil.
• Erect a fence or a hedge to act as a buffer against any blowing lead dust.
• Keep children away from any lead-tainted soil. Never let children eat the soil.
• Wear protective clothing when gardening. Remove your clothes before entering your home, and place them in a plastic bag. The next stop is your washing machine. Tracking lead dust into a home is a common way for lead to enter a home.
• Soils high in organic matter and compost with pH levels between 6.5 and 7.0 do a better job of binding lead in the soil, preventing it from being absorbed by plants.

If the test reveals the levels of lead in your soil are just too high, you may want to consider remediation of the contaminated soil. There are several options, including soil removal, raising pH levels and adding organic matter, or mixing in new soil. A certified lead inspector can tell you which may be the best option for your situation.

Studies have shown that lead does not accumulate in the fruiting part of the vegetable or fruit such as corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, berries, peaches and apples. It’s the leafy vegetables and the surface of root crops such as carrots, beets and potatoes where the higher concentrations of lead are found. A good practice with all produce — whether you grew it yourself or bought it at the market — is to prepare and wash it well. Some tips:

• Remove outer leaves from leafy crops.
• Peel all root crops.
• Wash all produce in mixture of 1 tablespoon of vinegar mixed into 1½ quarts water, which washes away most of the lead, in addition to other impurities.

Click here to schedule a lead test of your soil.

Lead-based paint is the main reason why 250,000 children are still being poisoned by lead annually. The only way to really protect your children from lead poisoning is to have your home tested by a professional environmental testing firm.

The most common source of lead poisoning is lead-based paint, which is still found in most homes built before 1978, the year lead paint was banned. Any renovation or simple wear-and-tear of the paint around windows and doors and on stair treads disturbs the paint, sending lead dust flying through the air.

But other sources of lead abound in the home:

Older plumbing fixtures

Faucets, lead pipes, and pipes connected with lead solder, in addition to well pumps made with brass or bronze parts that contain lead, can contaminate drinking water. Lead can leach into water at any temperature, but the amount is much greater when the water is warm or hot.

Lead-glazed ceramic ware, pottery and leaded crystal can contaminate food and liquids stored in them, especially for long periods of time.

Artificial turf

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection reports that recent tests by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services revealed that artificial turf playing fields contain potentially unhealthy levels of lead dust. Artificial turf made of nylon or nylon/polyethylene blend fibers contain potentially dangerous levels of lead. Artificial turf made with only polyethylene fibers contain low levels of lead. This information is important if you have an outdoor carpet made of artificial turf or plan on buying one.

It is also important to keep in mind that even low levels of lead can poison children, pregnant women and their unborn babies, and pets.

Hobbies

Pottery making, working with stained glass, or refinishing furniture can expose you to lead hazards. Try not to work on these hobbies when children are present or if you are pregnant.

Folk medicine

Lead has been found in some traditional folk medicines used by East Indian, Indian, Middle Eastern, West Asian and Hispanic cultures. Lead is added to these remedies to treat certain ailments, including arthritis, infertility, upset stomach, menstrual cramps and colic. For example, greta and azarcon (also known as alarcon, coral, luiga, maria luisa or ruedo) are traditional Hispanic remedies used to treat upset stomach, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, and used on the gums of teething babies. Both are fine orange powders that have a lead content as high as 90 percent.

Click here for more information about lead. To schedule a home lead test, click here.

We often blog about lead-based paint, and how improperly remodeling a pre-1978 built home can create lead dust and easily poison a child. But there are numerous other ways lead can enter a home. Today, we look at the sources — in addition to lead paint — that most affect children. Tomorrow, we look at lead from the whole-house perspective.

Toys

Lead is still widely used in other countries, and every now and then — even with our strict consumer-protection laws banning lead in toys — imported toys containing lead are found in the United States. To reduce these risks, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issues recalls of toys containing lead, and thankfully these recalls are quickly reported in the media. Unfortunately, if the child has been playing with the toy for even a day, he or she might be poisoned by lead.

More bad news: Lead in plastics has not been banned, and is often used in toys to soften the plastic and make it more flexible. But when plastic is exposed to substances such as sunlight, air, and detergents, the chemical bond between the lead and plastics breaks down and forms lead dust.

And be wary of painted toys, passed down through the generations. If made before 1978, there is a good chance there is lead in the paint. Do not let your children play with these toys.

Toy jewelry

In 2006 a 6-year-old child died after swallowing a heart-shaped metallic charm containing lead, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, Just wearing the jewelry will not cause a child’s blood lead level to spike into the dangerous range, but why take the chance? A speck of lead dust as small as a grain of sand can poison a child. And we all know that children, especially those younger than 6 who are at the greatest risk for lead poisoning, love to put objects in their mouths.

The CDC asks parents to search their children’s toys and jewelry boxes for metal jewelry and throw it all away.

Candy

Lead has been found in candy imported from Mexico. Certain candy ingredients, specifically chili powder and tamarind, may be a source of lead exposure. In addition, lead may get into the candy during manufacturer from improper handling processes, and the ink used on the candy wrappers contains lead, and often leaches into the candy.

Click here for more information about the danger of lead in your home. If you would like to schedule a home lead inspection, click here.

Most doctors say a blood test is the only way to determinelead poisoning. That’s partially true. Actually, the biological half-life of lead in the blood is about 36 days, which means that a blood test is only an indicator of the extent of recent lead exposure. According to the Bone Lead Measurement Facility at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, blood-lead levels – the standard for determining lead poisoning in this country – reflect chronic exposure only if exposure is constant.

Consider this scenario: You lived in a home or apartment that was built before 1978 and were unknowingly poisoned by the lead dust created by the home’s lead paint. A year later you move to a newly built home, hear about toxic lead dust, and decide to have your blood lead levels tested. Chances are your blood lead levels will fall below levels of concern.

But you are still being poisoned because, according to Mount Sinai, the lead has traveled, hiding in your bones and teeth where it has a long half-life of 20 to 30 years. Even more disturbing is that in times of physiologic stress, including pregnancy and lactation, the stored lead in your bones and teeth can travel back to your blood and affect your unborn child or infant.

Why should you care? Lead poisoning is a major public health problem in the United States, claiming victims from all walks of life, not only the inner city. In children, lead poisoning causes brain damage, ADD/ADHD, autism, loss of IQ, increased tendency to violence, nervous system and kidney damage, poor muscle coordination, decreased muscle and bone growth, speech and language problems, and as children age, delinquent and antisocial behavior. In men, lead poisoning causes decreased sex drive, sterility, and impotence; and in women, decreased fertility, the ability to sustain pregnancy, stillbirth, miscarriage, low-birth weight and pre-term delivery.

Eileen E. Brinker, an artist from Utah, detailed her lead poisoning ordeal in her blog, “from an otherwise sane perspective.” Brinker recently discovered she was poisoned by lead, which happened years ago when she worked for a real estate firm and spent her days sanding lead-based paint in the company’s rentals. Her list of medical issues include rotting teeth, headaches, and bouts of mental illness throughout her life

So what to do? The first line of defense is to have your pre-1978 built home tested for lead paint by a certified environmental testing company. Once you know where lead is hiding, you can take corrective steps to rid your home of lead. Next, schedule a blood test, especially if your lead exposure is recent. For long-term lead exposure testing, the bone lead X-ray fluorescence test at Mount Sinai is the only option available now, a relatively new technique for measuring long-term lead exposure.

For more information on lead dust, including steps you can take to make your home lead free, click here to visit www.BustLeadDust.com, an educational initiative designed to alert the public about the dangers of lead dust poisoning. And keep in mind this frightening statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: A speck of lead dust, as small as a grain of sand, is enough to poison a child.

The headlines out of northern Nigeria scream: Since March 2010, 400 children dead, poisoned by lead dust, and thousands more in need of immediate medical attention because of lead poisoning.

The source of the lead dust is the area’s gold mines. Ore-crushing techniques are releasing contaminated lead dust into the air, and these toxic lead particles are clinging to clothing and buildings, and infiltrating water supplies.

The international watchdog Human Rights Watch said last week that this is the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history. Although clean-up efforts have taken place in some areas, and charities such as Doctors Without Borders have been treating victims, Human Rights Watch says more urgent work needs to be done. It estimates that will cost $4 million to clean up the toxic lead and secure the gold mines.

The Nigerian tragedy should alert everyone to the danger of lead dust poisoning, not just abroad but right here at home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 250,000 children are poisoned by lead dust in the United States each year. Lead poisoning causes irreversible brain damage in children younger than six.

What’s more, a new federal report from an advisory committee of the CDC debunks the myth that lead poisoning affects only the poor. The report states that the adverse health effects of blood poisoning “do not appear to be confined to lower socioeconomic status populations.” That should be a wake-up call for all homeowners, especially those living in the Northeast, where twice as many homes have lead hazards than housing in the South and West.

Consider Westchester County, New York, which has, according to the County Department of Planning, 368,498 housing units. Of these, 307,693, or 80 percent, were built prior to 1980 – and it’s safe to assume most of these homes contain lead paint. Although lead was banned from paint manufacture in 1978, surplus lead-based paint was still on the market years after 1978. In addition, marine varnish is still manufactured with lead, and many homeowners use marine varnish in their homes because they think it is more durable than interior varnish.

Only education, testing and remediation will prevent lead poisoning. RTK Environmental Group recently launched an educational campaign, Bust Lead Dust (www.bustleaddust.com), to increase public awareness of the threat that lurks within their homes. Our goal is to prevent more children from the senseless exposure to an unnecessary health risk. Please join our campaign. To get started, click here.

We really are what we eat. Although nutrition cannot prevent young children from being poisoned by lead, certain foods can keep lead from being absorbed by the body.

Before we get to the food, it’s important to remember that more than 250,000 children each year are poisoned by lead, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and they span all economic groups. The only way to truly keep your children safe is to have your pre-1978 built home tested for lead. (Lead was banned from paint in 1978.) Hire only a licensed lead inspector to do the testing. In addition, have your children’s blood tested for lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning causes irreparable brain damage in children younger than seven. And although lead has been poisoning children for decades, it is not an old issue: It is here, it is now, and until every pre-1978 home or apartment has had all the lead removed, it is here to stay.

In the meantime, if you live in a pre-1978 build home, make sure your children’s diets are rich in:

Calcium keeps lead from being absorbed in the body. In addition, it helps make teeth and bones strong. Foods to include: low-fat milk, yogurt, tofu, cheese; foods made with milk (pudding, macaroni and cheese, pizza, cream soup); and green leafy vegetables (collards, spinach, kale, mustard greens, broccoli).

Iron also helps keep lead from being absorbed by the body. Foods to include: lean meats (beef, chicken, pork, goat); fish (sardines, tuna); cereals (Cream of Wheat, cereal with added iron, Infant cereal with added iron); beans (kidney, black); peanut butter; and dried fruits (raisins, dates, prunes).

Vitamin C helps iron do its lead-absorbing job. Foods to include: oranges, grapefruit, mangos, green peppers, tomatoes; and juices (orange, grapefruit, tomato).

Not only will these lead-blocking foods fight lead poisoning, your children will receive many other health benefits as well.

A federal advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that the level of acceptable blood lead levels (BLL) in children be lowered from 10 ug/dl to 5 ug/dl. By lowering the level just 5 ug/dls, the official count of children poisoned by lead each year leaps from 250,000 to 450,000 — a stunning statistic.

Why is this so important? It demonstrates that we as a country have not been diligent enough in the fight against lead poisoning. The committee’s report proves that children with BLLs as low as 5 ug/dls suffer from behavioral problems, including ADD/ADHD, in addition to lower IQs, which affect academic achievement. In addition, the committee reports that the adverse health effects of low-level BLLs extend beyond cognitive function to include cardiovascular, immunological, and endocrine impairment.

The committee recommends that primary lead poisoning prevention must start in the pediatrician’s office, beginning with counseling and environmental assessments. Damage caused by lead poisoning is irreversible, so if there is any chance a house or apartment ever had lead paint on its walls it should be tested immediately, and the children who live in the house should be tested for lead. The committee is also recommending that if a child has an elevated BLL, he or she immediately be placed on a diet high in calcium, vitamin C, and iron.

The committee also recommends that lead poisoning prevention education be extended to pregnant women, so they understand the importance of living in a lead-free environment. Even unborn children can be poisoned by lead.

Lead was banned as an additive to paint in 1978, but it’s safe to assume that most homes built before 1978 still contain lead-based paint. Even if layers of non-leaded paint are covering the lead-based paint, children can still be poisoned from the dust generated each time a window or door is opened or closed. Additionally, marine varnish is still manufactured with lead as an additive, and many homeowners use this varnish in their homes because they think it wears better than interior varnishes.

The goal of primary lead poisoning prevention is to ensure that all homes become lead free. That means that every home built before 1978 must be tested for lead paint, because testing is the only way to determine if remnants of lead-based paint still exist. The CDC’s Healthy People 2010 initiative has set a 10-year goal to end childhood lead poisoning. Only eight years left to make that goal. So many homes to test. So many children to test.

To help spread the word, Bust Lead Dust — www.BustLeadDust.com  — is an educational campaign to educate the public about the dangers of lead dust poisoning. This blog is written by RTK Environmental Group, sponsors of the Bust Lead Dust campaign.

Our next post will discuss the diet every lead-poisoned child should be eating.

There’s a renewed effort in the United States to have every home built before 1978 tested for lead.

The interest stems from a recently released report from an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that stresses the importance of preventing children from living in homes with possible lead hazards. The committee says there is no such thing as an acceptable level of lead in the blood of children, and that testing a child for lead poisoning — although important — is often too late to reverse the damage. Any amount of lead in the blood can cause irreparable harm to a child, including autism, ADD/ADHD, tendency to violence, poor motor skills, and lowered IQs.

The committee writes in the report: “Prevention requires that we reduce environmental exposures from soil, dust, paint and water, before children are exposed to these hazards.”

The committee also emphasizes that although low-income children are poisoned more frequently by lead than other children, lead poisoning spans all socio-economic strata. Even in middle- and high-income homes, where there are no signs of peeling paint, children are still poisoned by lead dust.

Need more convincing? A recent study conducted by the Tulane School of Public Health discovered nearly two-thirds of all New Orleans homes contain dangerous levels of lead. The study found the presence of lead in homes in all neighborhoods, without regard for race or income. Clearly, lead problems are not confined to urban homes.

Bottom line: If you live in a home built before 1978, when lead paint was banned for residential use, have your home tested for lead. According to the CDC, a speck of lead dust, as small as a grain of sand, can poison a child. Simply opening or closing a window or door can send lead dust flying through the air. And any renovation, from a simple painting job to a major home overhaul, requires the services of tradesman and contractors certified in lead-safe work practices under the EPA’s Renovation, Repair & Painting Rule.

The Tulane study blames reckless renovation and disregard of lead-safe work practices in repairing and demolishing homes after Hurricane Katrina for the amount of lead found in homes throughout New Orleans.

Bust Lead Dust is a recently launched campaign designed to educate the public about the dangers of lead dust poisoning. It is chockfull of important information every person living in a pre-1978 built home or apartment needs to read. Visit it at www.BustLeadDust.com. This blog is written by RTK Environmental Group, sponsors of the Bust Lead Dust campaign.

Our next post will discuss the CDC advisory committee’s recommendations to lower blood lead levels in children.