Lead: Lurking Where You Would Least Expect It | |
Only a few decades ago, lead was a common ingredient in all sorts of everyday things. It was great for making paint brilliantly white. Added to gasoline, it seemed to make car engines run more smoothly. It was a snap to use when soldering pipes. The problem, of course, is that lead poisons people in a slow, insidious manner. And, although it's no longer added to many products, lead still haunts us. Everybody knows that peeling old paint may contain lead. The toxic metal is also found in drinking water, thanks to antiquated, lead-soldered plumbing and certain brass fixtures with lead-containing alloys. Lead is still used in some paints for plastics and paper and for ceramic glazes. It's in your great-aunt's old crystal decanter (and now probably in the whiskey, too). And an estimated 4 or 5 million metric tons of the toxin is likely mixed into the nation's soil, the fallout of adding lead to gasoline for so many years. Although it is pervasive, lead is worth avoiding. It can remain in the human body for years, often concentrating in bones and certain organs. Kids who have ingested relatively small amounts of lead may have difficulty concentrating and remembering things. Larger amounts of lead can damage their kidneys and brains. In grown-ups, lead may harm the heart and blood vessels. The first thing to do, of course, is to find out if your house contains dangerous sources of the metal. And, if you have kids, request that your pediatrician give them blood lead tests. (Experts say that a less expensive test, called the erythrocyte protoporphyrin, or EP, test, isn't as likely to detect low but still significant amounts of lead.) About 20% of the lead that people accidentally ingest comes from drinking water, estimates the EPA. To check your home's water, you should send samples to a reputable laboratory. Contact your local health officials to find one nearby. Or, try calling one of these mail-order services: * The Clean Water Fund (704-251-0518) * Suburban Water Testing Labs (800-433-6595) * National Testing Laboratories (800-458-3330) Expect to spend at least $35 for the test, plus the costs of shipping the samples via overnight mail (the test results may be incorrect if the labs can't process the samples within 30 hours). You may be asked to supply 2 samples: one taken in the morning, after the water has been sitting in the house's plumbing all night, and a second one after the faucet has been left running for five minutes or so. This way, you can figure out if lead may be coming from your pipes or from the municipal water supply. Around your home, check any surface you might suspect has been painted prior to the late 1970s, when leaded house paints were banned. In particular, inspect window sashes and sills, doors, radiators, and anywhere else heat, dampness, or friction could cause paint to deteriorate. Test your dinnerware. And don't forget the soil outside your house, it may be contaminated with lead from car exhaust, or from old paint particles that have chipped off the siding. As with the water, you can send samples to labs for analysis. Alteratively, you can buy a do-it-yourself kit, such as the Frandon Lead Alert Kit (available by calling 800-359-9000) and the LeadCheck Swabs (800-262-LEAD). But these kits follow the all-or-nothing doctrine: they can detect the presence of lead, but they won't inform you if the sample contains a little lead or a lot. If you plan to renovate a room that was once painted with lead paint, or to refinish an old piece of furniture, do so carefully. The last thing you want to do is scatter tiny lead particles throughout your house. The New York Public Interest Research Group, a not-for-profit advocacy organization, recommends that you mist or dampen surfaces when removing old paint to keep the dust from flying. Use tape and plastic sheeting to seal off your work area. When you clean up, use a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Accumulator) vacuum. Wear protective gear including appropriate clothes, gloves, and a HEPA respirator. And remember, this is not an intelligent place for children or pregnant women to hang out. Alternatively, you can simply entomb the paint by installing a fresh layer of sheet rock or siding over the old wall. (A new coat of paint won't solve the problem. Sooner or later, the leaded paint will work loose anyway.) Better yet, get a professional who's knowledgeable in lead-paint hazards to do the work for you. If you have questions, there's plenty of help. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is a good place to start. Call their hotline at 1-800-638-2772. You can also try: * The National Lead Information Center, at 1-800-LEADFYI * Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, at 202-543-1147 written by Judith Gunther Reprinted with permission. Copyright HouseNet, Inc. |