Lead-Based Paint and Your Home Improvement Projects

The spring and summer weather is here and many of us are starting or planning to start those home improvement projects that just can’t be done in the cold and wet months. Maybe we have also heard about the dangers that can be present when working on surfaces that contain lead. As many of us now know, any home that was constructed prior to 1978 may have lead-based paint or lead containing finishes on any of the painted or varnished surfaces on the exterior and interior of the home and on outbuildings, fences and other surfaces as well. If any of these surfaces contain unhealthy levels of lead and our planned projects will disturb those surfaces then we must use lead-safe work practices in order to protect our health and that of our families, anyone working on our home and even anyone that may visit during or after the work.

What kind of work could disturb lead containing surfaces? Painting and refinishing of surfaces normally begins with sanding and scraping of the existing finish to remove peeling and chipping paint and to smooth the surface before the application of the new finish. Dry scraping and sanding can cause lead dust and leaded paint chips which can be extremely dangerous when inhaled or ingested. Likewise any work that involves cutting or drilling holes in surfaces can release the lead in those surfaces in the form of dust and shavings. Demolition of any type even during small projects such as window replacement may result in lead contamination if lead-safe work practices are not used. Lead dust is extremely dangerous because it is easily inhaled and it will collect on other surfaces which occupants will later touch and the lead is then transferred to our hands or clothing. From there the lead can easily be transferred to the food we eat, or even directly into our mouths, and ingested. Once in our system, lead can cause many serious health issues. While lead in the system can be most harmful to young developing children, it can also have many serious effects for adults.

Unless we have already had our pre 1978 home tested for lead-based paint we don’t know if there is lead on any surfaces or not. So, what can we do to protect ourselves and our loved ones when we do our improvement projects around the house? In this case we have two choices, either we have the areas that we are working on tested for lead-based paint or we assume that those surfaces have lead and we use lead-safe work practices when doing that work.

In California, only State-certified lead inspector/risk assessors may perform lead paint, dust or soil testing in residential or public buildings if compensation is involved. These certified inspector/risk assessors will have State issued photo identification cards indicating this certification. EPA certified RRP contractors may NOT test paint in California. Homeowners may collect paint and dust samples from their own home and send them to a laboratory for testing for their own information. There are also several lead testing kits available on the market but these are not recommended because they do not indicate how much lead is present and may in fact show positive results even when the quantity of lead present is within the levels currently considered to be safe. For more information about testing your California home for lead in the paint visit the California Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch website. For information about lead safety in your home and lead-safe work practices to use when disturbing painted surfaces contact the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) or visit the EPA’s Lead website.

The City of South Lake Tahoe’s Lead Safe Tahoe program has assisted the owners of nearly 600 living units located inside the city limits by coordinating and funding the testing for lead-based paint by State-certified inspector/assessors. The results of these lead inspections are maintained in the City building records for the individual addresses and are available when building permits are obtained for any work done on those properties. The Lead Safe Tahoe program began operating in 2010 and continues today. If you recently acquired your home in the South Lake Tahoe city limits and do not know if it previously participated in this program, contact Lead Safe Tahoe at 530-542-6011 or the City Building Division at 530-542-6010 to find out.

Remember, if you are going to do home improvement or remodeling projects, have your pre 1978 home tested by a State-certified inspector/risk assessor to find out if hazardous lead levels exist before working, or assume that hazardous lead levels are present and always use lead-safe work practices. If you hire any contractor to do work which will disturb painted surfaces that contain lead or are presumed to contain lead, make sure that it is a State-certified lead contractor using lead-safe work practices.

Think lead-safe when you are planning your home improvement projects and help to protect your family from exposure to lead hazards.