The NH Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
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Working Safely with Lead Paint
You’ve just purchased an antique home, and one of your first projects is scraping and painting. Wait! Did you know that lead is a highly toxic heavy metal that was used in paints before 1978? Paint dust or chips from sanding and scraping lead paint can cause serious health issues, particularly for young children and pregnant women.
Each year, a third of the lead poisonings that occur in children in New Hampshire are attributed to exposure to lead-based paints during home renovations. It’s important to be aware that breathing lead dust or swallowing paint chips can cause damage to a child’s brain and nervous system, slow growth and development, and result in problems with learning, behavior, hearing and speech. But if handled or managed correctly, lead poisoning is preventable.
Here are some tips and techniques to handle lead-painted surfaces to prevent harmful effects in you and your family.
Learn about the Risks and the Methods to Avoid Exposure
Before you begin, consult The NH Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. Their website and services can help you with concerns about lead’s effects, how to treat lead painted surfaces, where to seek medical guidance and the kinds of treatment available if contamination or poisoning is suspected. Their services are free and their website contains lots of valuable information for New Hampshire property owners, landlords, and tenants.
Hiring a Lead Paint Certified Contractor
Federal law requires that painters and other contractors who disturb painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and pre-schools built before 1978 be certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and follow lead-safe work practices. EPA-approved classes and certification on lead-safe work practices are offered regularly in NH. Building owners must use contractors certified under EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) rule if routine renovation activities in homes, childcare facilities and pre-schools disturb more than six square feet of lead paint inside or twenty square feet of lead paint outside.
Do-it-yourselfers working on their own homes are exempt from this regulation but before they begin a project they should know how to safely work with paints that contain lead. Protective procedures will help avoid contamination risks from airborne particles or in the soil where lead residues could harm humans or pets.
Certified contractors will work in fully protective gear, and carefully collect all paint residue and dispose of it safely. Any kind of blasting or abrasive cleaning that might send dust into the air or paint chips onto the ground should be strictly avoided. Sand-blasting and power-washing can release lead into the environment. Even tracking lead dust through your home can be dangerous so wipe down shoes and surfaces with a wet rag frequently.
To find a lead-safe certified contractor in your area, refer to the EPA’s Lead webpage that has information for both consumers and contractors. https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program-contractors (or cut and paste this link into your browser).
Lead paint can be found in exterior siding and trim, interior trim and flat surfaces, windows, and ceilings. If it is flaking or peeling, precautions should be taken.
There are contractors who specialize in restoring historic windows—a good practice since windows are often character-defining features. Properly restored and insulated with storm windows, historic windows can have the same energy efficiency as new windows and a much longer life than vinyl replacements. Be aware that historic windows will have lead paint and old glazing putty may have lead as well. So lead-safe practices should be used during all window restoration. If you are doing it yourself, attend a workshop offered by the NH Preservation Alliance, consult our Directory of Preservation Services for Window Restoration Contractors, https://nhpreservation.org/directory, or find reputable tutorials on line.
If your house was built before 1978, lead-paint is likely.
Even homes built after lead paint was prohibited (1978) could have lead; people didn’t throw out all their extra paint on the day the law was passed. They probably saved and re-used it for additional jobs and touch-ups. Want to know for sure? The easiest way is to purchase a readily-available home test kit from a home center or hardware store.
Decide How to Manage Lead-painted Surfaces
If lead is present, there are three main ways to deal with it:
· Encapsulation or Enclosure of the paint can be done by putting up new drywall, or covering the lead-painted surface with a special paint (elaborate) that will create a watertight seal over the lead paint.
· Removal must be done with great care, using safe techniques such as wet sanding, low temperature heat guns, hand-scraping, or liquid paint removers. After removal, a new lead-free paint can be applied.
· Do nothing. If the lead-based paint in your home is in good condition, or there are no children under 6, you may safely leave it untouched, although you will have to disclose the presence of lead when you sell your home.
There are many resources available on the topic of working safely with lead-based paints. Assess your risks and approach for historic buildings with guidance from the National Park Service’s “Preservation Brief 37, Appropriate Methods for Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing.” https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs.htm
Other Related sources:
Don’t Spread Lead: A Do It Yourself Guide to Lead-Safe Painting, Repair, and Home Improvement, www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/bchs/clpp/documents/guide.pdf
Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Lead Paint Safety at Home and On the Job, https://www.finehomebuilding.com/membership/pdf/15587/021150066.pdf
The Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Reducing Lead Hazards when Remodeling your Home, www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/bchs/clpp/documents/remodeling.pdf
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Steps to Lead Safe Renovation, Repair and Painting, October 2011, www.epa.gov/lead/steps-lead-safe-renovation-repair-and-painting-october-2011