Lead-based Paint Renovation: It’s Now “the Law”
Thinking that the lead-based paint on the walls of your old house is no big deal? You’ll be hearing differently, and I’ll explain a bit of why.
After April 22 in the U.S., folks who do work in houses built before 1978 may need to be EPA-Certified Renovators if they do things to anything with lead-based paint (or varnish) on it. I’ve been training various trades to this standard (it’s one of the things I do these days) and have been impressed by the dedication of the people coming through my classes. As a certified Lead Worker and Renovator myself — I also have held various other EPA, MSHA and OSHA certifications over the last twenty years, in addition to the various IT and HR-related certifications I’ve had — I’m always looking different information.
Here’s a little info about lead paint.
One of the things that has surprised me is the amount of lead in the paint used on old homes. I live in a 1924 house, so I’m interested in these things for more than professional reasons.
The rule today is that “lead-based paint” means any surface coating that is more than 0.5% by weight of the solids; that is, the dry paint on the wall. If you had just a 1 gram paint chip of such (that’s less than 0.04 ounces and about 1cm2) that was ground into dust, it could contaminate over 11.5 m2 (or 125 ft2) of floors to above the EPA and HUD allowable limits.
Which should put the fear of God into you, because just cutting into the wall can create that much paint dust, depending on the length of the cut. Just cutting off your baseboards can create that much, easy, in just one room.
But in my house, the paint isn’t 0.5% lead.
Because in pre-1940 houses, most lead paint was around 20% lead. It ranged from 10% up to 50%. Yes, there was smaller amounts, trace amounts that made it into different formulations because the quality control wasn’t good. But most of the time, if you were using lead paint it had a lot of lead in it.
That means that the same 1g paint chip, if 10% lead, would contaminate 2,500 ft2.
That’s a decent sized new house, and three times the original size of the one I own.
If you own an older home, and you are considering doing renovations yourself, you may want to think twice. Certified Firms use Certified Renovators. These men and women have been trained in the practices that reduce lead dust. There are things that they just won’t do, like power-sanding or dry sweeping, activities that create a massive amount of paint dust.
They will cost you more, but then again maybe you don’t want to poison your kids. Or yourself: even a small increase in blood lead levels has been linked to a doubling of things like kidney failure, heart disease and nervous system problems.
Happy EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule week!
