Lead Safe Practices
Important Information about Lead
FACT: Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born.
FACT: Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.
FACT: You can get lead in your body by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.
FACT: You have many options for reducing lead hazards. In most cases, lead-based paint that is in good condition is not a hazard.
FACT: Removing lead-based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family. Where lead is found
In general, the older your home, the more likely it has lead-based paint.
Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint. The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. Some states stopped its use even earlier. Lead can be found:
- In homes in the city, country, or suburbs.
- In apartments, single-family homes, and both private and public housing.
- Inside and outside of the house.
Our Entire Crew is Lead-Safe Practices Trained! There are direct links with lead concentrations in a child’s blood and I.Q loss!
Small amounts of lead-contaminated dust can poison. You can’t see it, it is hard to sweep and it travels. Children are at a greater risk than adults because of frequent hand-to-mouth activity.
Where Lead is likely to be a Hazard
Lead from paint chips, which you can see, and lead dust, which you can’t always see, can be serious hazards.
Peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking lead-based paint is a hazard and needs immediate attention.
Lead-based paint may also be a hazard when found on surfaces that children can chew or that get a lot of wear-and-tear. These areas include:
Windows and Window sills.
Doors and Door Frames.
Stairs, Railings, and Banisters.
Porches and Fences.
Lead dust can form when lead-based paint is dry scraped, dry sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub together. Lead chips and dust can get on surfaces and objects that people touch. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air when people vacuum, sweep or walk through it.
We have test kits to test for lead – we also provide whole-home-health surveys.
How to check your family and home for lead.
To reduce your child’s exposure to lead, get your child checked, have your home tested (especially if your home has paint in poor condition and was built before 1978), and fix any hazards you may have.
Family
Children’s blood lead levels tend to increase rapidly from 6 to 12 months of age, and tend to peak at 18 to 24 months of age.
Consult your doctor for advice on testing your children. A simple blood test can detect high levels of lead. Blood tests are important for:
Children at ages one and two.
Children and other family members who have been exposed to high levels of lead.
Children who should be tested under your state or local health screening plan.
Your doctor can explain what the test results mean and if more testing will be needed.
Your home
You can get your home checked in one of two ways, or both:
A paint inspection tells you the lead content of every different type of painted surface in your home. It won’t tell you whether the paint is a hazard or how you should deal with it.
A risk assessment tells you if there are any sources of serious lead exposure (such as peeling paint and lead dust). It also tells you what actions to take to address these hazards.
Have our qualified professionals do the work. There are standards in place for certifying lead-based paint professionals to ensure the work is done safely, reliably, and effectively.
Our Trained professionals use a range of methods when checking your home, including:
Visual inspection of paint condition and location.
A portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine.
Lab tests of paint samples.
Surface dust tests.
Health Effects of Lead
Childhood lead poisoning remains a major environmental health problem in the United States.
People can get lead in their body if they:
- Put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths.
- Eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.
- Breathe in lead dust, especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces.
Lead is more dangerous to children because:
- Babies and young children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths. These objects can have lead dust on them.
- Children’s growing bodies absorb more lead.
- Children’s brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.
If not detected early, children with high levels of lead in their bodies can suffer from:
- Damage to the brain and nervous system
- Behavior and learning problems, such as hyperactivity
- Slowed growth
- Hearing problems
- Headaches
Lead is also harmful to adults. Adults can suffer from:
- Reproductive problems in both men and women
- High blood pressure and hypertension
- Nerve disorders
- Memory and concentration problems
- Muscle and joint pain
LEAD IS VERY HAZARDOUS TO CHILDREN
A link has been established between lead in a child’s blood and I.Q. loss!
We are qualified to give you a risk assessment on this contaminate. If you are pregnant there can be a 50% absorption rate – it is advisable to use lead-safe-practices firms when remodeling. We are trained in containment (to prevent lead dust from traveling to uncontaminated areas of the site), personal protective equipment and disposal. We use state of the art work practices.