A little bit of lead paint can endanger the health of children. As of last week, it may also add to the headaches and expense of many home renovations.
Beginning April 22, contractors who remodel and repair homes built before 1978, when leaded paint was banned, must be certified in safe removal practices and follow specific steps to prevent work site contamination.
More than half of the nation’s homes could contain paint with lead, which once was used to boost durability and brighten color, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which issued the new regulations.
Remodelers, painters, plumbers, even neighborhood handymen who fail to follow the new rules could incur fines of up to $37,500 per violation per day. The penalties apply to workers, not the homeowners who hire them.
The EPA’s primary motive for the new rules is to limit children’s exposure to lead, a toxic metal that can irreversibly damage the brain and central nervous system, causing lower IQs, behavioral difficulties and hyperactivity.
Although lead can cause health problems for adults, too, young children are most at risk because their bodies absorb more lead than grown-ups’. Despite the ban on lead-based paint three decades ago, 1 million American children annually still are affected by lead poisoning, according to the EPA.
“Lead poisoning is a permanent condition that can be prevented,” said Dawn Harris Young, a spokeswoman for the regional EPA office in Atlanta. “At the end of the day, this is really being done to protect kids.”
Some lead poisoning is the result of dust containing old paint that gets stirred up during remodeling activities. One gram of lead-based paint can contaminate a large work area, according to the EPA.
The agency’s new rules also apply to pre-1978 public or commercial buildings where children under 6 years old could be present, including child care centers and schools.
The EPA calls the steps to minimize lead exposure simple, but renovators and contractors call them anything but. If a house contains lead paint, workers are required to wear masks and special suits, meticulously seal off work areas and specially wrap and bag the old material.
“There certainly will be more cost involved, there just has to be,” said Chris Burke, vice president of government affairs for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.
The group’s 1,400 members have been working diligently to get the necessary training and certification, Burke said. As of last week, an estimated 150,000 contractors nationwide had been trained, according to the EPA.
Burke said it’s difficult to know how much the regulations will increase the costs of remodeling.
The new rules have some Atlanta area businesses rethinking jobs on older structures.
“As a company, we are giving very careful consideration before working on pre-1978 houses,” said Ray Stang, an owner of Brunning and Stang Construction in Buckhead.
While acknowledging the harmful effects of lead, Stang cited added costs to homeowners as well as his company’s increased exposure to lawsuits as factors to consider in any job.
“I just think there is a liability that will extend far beyond the work that is done. You know how litigious this country is,” he said.
Homeowners can expressly give workers permission to bypass the new requirements for work on a house they live in with no pregnant women or children six years or younger. However, some local contractors will be unwilling to do that given the risk to their own workers or subcontractors, Stang said.
“I know this stuff is dangerous and maybe desperately so for little kids,” he said. “But suppose you are a person of modest means with dreams of renovating your home. You are skunked.”
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Ways to reduce exposure to lead
● Do not allow children to chew on or put their mouths on surfaces that may have been painted with lead based paint.
● If you have a water lead problem, run or flush water that has been standing overnight before drinking or cooking with it.
● Some types of paints and pigments that are used in make-up or hair coloring contain lead. Keep these products away from children.
● If your home contains lead-based paint or you live in an area contaminated with lead, wash children’s hands and faces often to remove lead dust and soil, and regularly clean the house of dust and tracked-in soil.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
New regulations
EPA’s New Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule
Beginning April 22, contractors performing renovation or repairs that disturb lead based paint in homes, child care facilities and schools built before 1978 must be certified and follow specific safe work practices to prevent lead contamination.
Examples of the require-ments for contractors:
● Contain the work site so dust and debris do not escape.
● Post warning signs.
● Use heavy-duty plastic and tape to cover floors and seal off doors and heating and cooling vents.
● To minimize dust, mist areas before sanding and score paint before separating components.
● Clean the work area daily; when the job is complete, clean before removing plastic that isolates the work area using methods that include vacuuming with a HEPA machine and wet mopping.
The new rule does not apply to homeowners doing their own renovations and repairs. However, the EPA warns that the risk of lead poisoning still exists.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Check our sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: www.atsdr.cdc.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov/lead
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