Use of Lead in Ancient Times

Lead has been used by humans since the dawn of civilization because of its availability, ease of extraction and ease of use. It is a soft and highly malleable, heavy and toxic metal and is easy to smelt.  There is evidence of its use in the early Bronze Age where it was used with antimony and arsenic, as well as being mentioned in the Book of Exodus. Ancient alchemists thought that lead was the oldest metal and associated it with the planet Saturn. 

Lead is a chemical element on the periodic table symbolized as Pb, an abbreviation of its Latin name plumbum, the same Latin root of the English word "plumbing". 

Evidence of lead used as a component of paints dates back to the ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Civilizations.

Use of Lead In Paint in Modern Times

Prior to 1940, lead was in just about all paints and many Federal and State Government agencies recommended and specified its use.  The U.S. National Bureau of Standards, Interior Department, and Forest Service stated in the 1930 and 40’s that lead pigments were the most important of white pigments and that lead-based paint was the very best choice for homeowners because it allowed for longer intervals between repaints.  

In fact, from the 1920’s through the 1940’s the US Federal Government was one of the foremost proponents of the use of lead-based paint. Based on the recommendations of former government paint experts, President Franklin Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration had specified the use of lead-based paint for the interior use of fifty or more public housing projects because of its durability.

Despite mounting evidence of the effects of its use, lead was still used in paints in the United States until the danger became too widely known to be ignored.  It was banned in 1978 and paint manufacturers replaced lead with other ingredients, such as barium sulfate and titanium dioxide.  When regulations limiting the allowable amounts of lead in paint were implemented in 1978, the use of lead oxide had all but stopped.

Adverse Health Effects of Lead Poisoning

Lead is a natural element that does not break down in the environment.  Once lead has been dispersed and re-deposited into the environment, it remains there with the potential to poison unsuspecting humans and animals for generations to come unless it is controlled or removed.

Lead can damage nerve connections in young children and adults alike, and cause blood and brain disorders. Long term exposure to lead or its salts can cause:

Nephropathy
Nausea
Insomnia
Lethargy 
Hyperactivity
Abdominal pains
Irritability
Reduced IQ
and in severe cases seizure, coma and death.

How Lead Enters the Body (Humans and Animals)

Lead poisoning occurs when lead enters the body via tainted water, eating tainted soil, eating paint chips containing lead, and breathing or swallowing lead dust. Children tend to obtain lead poisoning from eating paint chips, from putting their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths and by inhaling lead dust, especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces where household dust can pick up lead from deteriorating lead-based paint.  Among the methods of poisoning, lead-dust is among the greatest threat due to its subtle method of ingestion. During renovations lead dust can form when lead-based paint is dry scraped, dry sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub against. Lead chips and lead dust can get on surfaces and objects we interact with daily. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air when we vacuum, sweep or walk through it.

Young Children and Pregnant Women are at Greater Risk

Children with low blood lead levels may not exhibit symptoms of poisoning, yet even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.  In an average adult, 10-15 percent of lead that reaches the digestive tract is absorbed.  Young children and pregnant women, absorb as much as 50% more lead than the average adult due to the body’s inability to distinguish it, periods of stress and the body’s growth demands.

As a result, lead exposure is very harmful to young children and babies even before they are born. Children’s bodies absorb more lead, and their brains and nervous systems are more susceptible to its damaging effects. If not detected early, children with high blood lead levels can suffer from:
          - Damage to the brain and nervous system
          - Behavior and learning problems (such as hyperactivity)
          - Slowed growth
          - Hearing problems
          - Headaches
          - Death

Adults with high blood lead levels can suffer from:
          - Difficulties during pregnancy
          - Other reproductive problems (in both men and women)
          - High blood pressure
          - Digestive problems
          - Nerve disorders
          - Memory and concentration problems
          - Muscle and joint pain 

For homes built before 1978, assume it contains Lead-Based Paint

As a rule of thumb, the older your home, the more likely it contains lead-based paint. Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint and while the US federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in homes in 1978, it can still be found in urban, suburban and city homes across the country.  Whether apartment building or single-family homes, private or public housing, interior or exterior, deteriorated lead-based paint poses a serious health risk for its occupants, especially children and pregnant women. 

How to Minimize the Risk of Lead Poisoning

Lead Based Paint abatement is intended to lessen and reduce the health risk associated with lead-based paint and involves the encasement of the substrate with approved encapsulating coatings, enclosure of the hazard with hard barriers, or removing the hazard. Removal can include either the removal of the lead-paint substrate or removal of just the lead-based paint itself. Removal however, is generally reserved for limited areas and for surfaces where historic preservation requirements may apply.  Paint removal techniques demand high levels of control and worker protection and tend to generate significant amounts of hazardous waste which require special transportation, management and maintenance.

To protect families from lead exposure due to paint, dust and soil, in 1992 congress passed the Residential Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X. Four years later on March 6, 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule, “Lead; Requirements for Disclosure of Known LBP Hazards in Housing” which requires the disclosure of known information on LBP and LBP hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978.

U.S. Children Still at Risk of Lead Poisoning

It is currently estimated that 890,000 roughly 4.4% of the preschool age children in the United States have a blood lead level of 10ug/dl or higher. In northeastern cities more than 35% of the preschool children have blood lead levels that exceed10ug/dl from exposure to residential lead hazards.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental disease facing children in the United States. Of the 20 million children in the United States, almost 9 percent have blood lead levels at or above the “level of concern” established by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  This epidemic of lead poisoning is more widespread than any other preventable childhood disease.

The ingestion of lead dust contaminated surfaces is the most common pathway of childhood lead poisoning. Due to its small particle size, lead dust tends not be visible to the naked eye and is difficult to clean and avoid. Lead dust gets on children’s hands, toys and on other surfaces and then enters their bodies through normal hand to mouth activities and breathing. 

Lead based paint is the most common source of lead exposure for pre-school children and the primary source of lead exposure is fine particles of lead-laden dust in the home. Many houses and apartment built before 1978 have paint that contains lead and peeling lead paint chips pose a serious health hazards if not properly managed. 

Lead-Based Paint must be abated and removing it is the most complicated and costly abatement method, consisting of complex containment during the removal process and then the transportation and storage of the hazardous material.

The quickest, most practical, economical way to abate Lead Based Paint is to encase it with LeadLock^TM, a non-toxic, low VOC approved lead encapsulant coating that will manage it in place.

LeadLock™ Features and Benefits

Non-Toxic, Lowest VOCs, Renewable and Sustainable
Waterproof, Durable, Breathable, Highly Chemical & Impact Resistance 
Clean Up is with Water
Class “A” Fire Rated, NO Ozone Depleting Substances, 
No Generation of Hazardous Waste.

Encasement is a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US HUD Accepted abatement method
Passed UPITT Test for Combustion Product Toxicity.
Accepted for use by the City of New York, Department of Buildings, MEA #309-94-M
New York City Vendor #0002085630-1
Complies with State of New York-Uniform Building Code #1120-15
Registered with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

ASTM E-1795 – Standard specification for Non-Reinforced Liquid Coating Encapsulation Products for Leaded Paint in Buildings, Type III: Either Exterior or Interior Use: All products (LeadLock^TM, MOLDon’t^TM,AsbestoSafe®/Your Last Coat^TM and RoofCoat^TM were tested and conform to all of the requirements of ASTM E-1795.)

Approved for interior and exterior use by all United States Departments of Health.
Passed Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health Encapsulation Product Performance Protocol. 

 LeadLock™ Product Description

LeadLock™ TopCoat is a high performance, water-based, acrylic, non-toxic, abuse- rust-, mildew-, fire- and chemical-resistant top coat that can be custom tinted almost any color. It functions as a tough membrane that encloses Lead-Based Paint for long-lasting protection against the hazards of deteriorating Lead-Based Painted surfaces.
It can be applied alone over intact surfaces, or over surfaces stabilized with PrepLESS Primer™ to form a GLOBAL Encasement System.

LeadLock™ Uses
 
LeadLock™ is excellent for walls, ceilings, trim, ducts, pipes and all non-friction surfaces. It can be used over treated or untreated wood, stone, metal, wallboard, sheet rock, cracked and painted plaster, stucco, masonry, concrete and various fibrous materials.
LeadLock™ TopCoat is an approved Lead Encapsulant for use in all 50 states, US Territories and Worldwide. It is fully tested in accordance with ASTM E-1795-97, the Standard for Liquid Coating Encapsulation Products for Leaded Paint in Buildings. 

Class A Fire Rated

Extremely tough, durable and flexible

Mildew and mold resistant

Can be custom tinted almost any color

Waterproof

Flexible  

Low in V.O.C.s (Volatile Organic Content)

LeadLock™ Technical Data

Solids by weight:                 67.4% (+/- 2%)

Solids by volume                  54% (+/- 2%)

V.O.C.                                   4 g/l

Weight per gallon:               11.85 lbs

Liquid appearance:              Bright White with mild scent

Viscosity:                             105-120 KU                         

Drying time:                         To Touch: 1-4 Hours

        Recoat After Dry To Touch: 2-8 Hrs

        Full Cure: 10-14 Days

Cost Comparison - Lead-Based Paint Remediation Options
Site Description: 1 Family House, 2,000 square feet of exterior walls with peeling, flaking, Lead-Based Paint, Clapboard Siding

Example I – Enclosure (Vinyl Siding)

Example III – GLOBAL Encasement, LeadLock™ System

Comparative Cost Analysis of Lead/Asbestos Abatement Methods 
The following analysis assumes abatement of lead or asbestos for an average two-bedroom apartment with an affected surface area of 1,200 square feet. The study presents only the “hard” costs for the project and does not attempt to calculate the “indirect” costs, which depending on the project’s condition could prove substantial. Some of these “indirect” costs appear below, at the end of the analysis, and are assigned an “A” for “Applicable” or “NA” for “Non Applicable” for each of the abatement procedures.  

 1200 sf Apartment - Indirect Costs

• 13.1: Asbestos

• Current page is 13.2: Lead Based Paint

• 13.3: Mold & Mildew
• 13.4: Roofing
• 13.5: Weather / Waterproofing
• 13.6: Testing & Approvals
• 13.7: Client List