LEAD PAINT CONSULTING
Lead has been used as a constituent in many products and applications throughout our society. As a result, many people, especially children, have the potential to be exposed to lead, sometimes resulting in serious consequences. While exposure to lead is a concern for all, childhood lead-poisoning is one of the most common and preventable pediatric health problems in the United States today. Earth’s professionals have been part of the childhood lead-poisoning prevention and LBP hazard-reduction through hundreds of LBP projects. Therefore, Earth is in a unique position to assist its clients with his or her LBP needs.
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What is Lead? Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray heavy
metal. Since it is virtually indestructible and non-biodegradable,
manufacturers have used it to make many different products including
paint, batteries, gasoline, pipes, and solder. Once it is released
into the environment, it persists, and can move from one medium to
another. For example, lead in dust can be carried long distances,
dissolve in water, and find its way into soil where it can remain
for years. |
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There are two routes of lead exposure: ingestion and
inhalation. |
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How much lead is ok? There is no safety level for lead in the human body. Even
very tiny amounts of lead can be dangerous to a person’s health. Tiny quantities
of paint and dust exposures can result in a very high lead intake. |
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What are lead’s health effects?  When a child gets even small amounts of lead, it can cause
permanent damage to the brain, kidneys, and hearing, especially in children
under 6years. In adults, low levels of lead can cause, headaches, mood changes,
sleep disturbances, a decrease in fertility, high blood pressure, digestive
problems, nerve disorders, and joint and muscle pain. High levels of lead
exposure can cause mental retardation, blindness, convulsions, comas, and death,
Lead can also cause problems in pregnancy and affect a baby’s normal
development. |
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How Earth can help you with your lead problems Earth can find if you have a lead problem in your building,
can performed a lead inspection and perform a risk assessment of your lead
problem if there is one. In addition we can assist you to identify the most
convenient abatement procedure, and oversee the lead abatement project. |
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Regulations Federal and State agencies have made efforts to reduce child
lead exposure. Lead-based paint regulations restrict the amount of lead in
paints; ban the use of paint containing more than 0.06 percent lead by weight on
interior and exterior residential surfaces, toys, and furniture; require
disclosure of known LBP and/or LBP hazards by persons selling or leasing housing
constructed before the phase-out of residential LBP use in 1978, and require
training and licenses for individuals conducting LBP activities in target
housing and child-occupied facilities. The OSHA standards also provide work
practice guidance for the potential to track lead containing dust and debris
outside of the work area and into child-occupied areas. |