Lead in paint in your home – what you need to know

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Lead in paint your home – what you need to know

 

Was your home built before 1978? If so there is a good chance it has lead-based paint. Lead paint is still present in millions of homes and sometimes under layers of newer paint. Here’s what you need to know if you find lead paint in your home.

 

Lead paint is usually not a problem, providing that the paint is in good shape. Deteriorating lead-based paint – for example peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking, damaged or damp – is however a hazard and will need immediate attention.

 

Where is it found?

 

As well as being found under layers of newer paints, it can also be hazardous when found on surfaces that get a lot of wear-and-tear. For example windows and window sills, doors and door frames, stairs, railings, banisters, skirting boards and porches.

 

Lead is naturally occurring, and can be found in high concentrations in some areas for example soil, gardens and playgrounds.

 

In a well-maintained home, lead in dust can still be an issue. When lead-based paint is scraped, canned or heated during DIY activities lead dust can form.

 

Lead can also be found in many products including, painted toys, furniture, toy jewellery, food or liquid containers, cosmetic and plumbing products.

 

Drinking water can also be affected by lead, it can enter drinking water through corrosed pipes.

 

Who’s at risk?

 

Children and adults, including pregnant women, are at risk from lead poisoning. Lead is particularly dangerous to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do. Children’s brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.

 

A pregnant woman’s exposure to lead is of particular concern because it can result in exposure to her developing baby.

 

How to lower the risk from lead paint and make your home safe

 

There are many simple steps that will go a long way in preventing lead exposure, for example:

 

  • inspect and maintain all painted surfaces to prevent paint deterioration
  • keep your home clean and dust-free
  • clean around painted areas where friction can generate dust, such as doors, windows, and drawers
  • wash children’s hands, bottles, and toys often
  • encourage children to wipe and remove their shoes and wash hands after playing outdoors.

 

How Envirochem can help with lead paint

It is important to have your home tested for lead if it was built before 1978. There are two ways to get your home checked, the first is a paint inspection.

 

We have 25 years experience in assessing chemical risks in buildings. When our team conducts a paint inspection, they are able to tell you the lead content of every different type of painted surface in your home. However from a paint inspection we are unable to tell you if the paint is a hazard. This test is appropriate when you are buying or renting a homeland before you do any DIY, and will help you to determine how to maintain your house for lead safety.

 

The second test that our team can carry out for your home is a risk assessment. This test allows our team to tell you if there are any sources of serious lead exposure such as peeling paint and lead dust. We will then provide you with information on what actions to take to address the hazards.

 

Get in touch with our team today to discover how our services can help keep you safe.

 

Lead in paint

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Lead in paint can be found in a variety of buildings, especially if built before 1978. However this period is only guidance as left over paints were often used after this date.

We have conducted surveys in buildings that are be renovated and before demolition and provide our customers with the best course of action to take following the results. If the option of removing the paint is taken we can carry out lead in dust monitoring to ensure works are being carried out appropriately following HSE guidelines.

 

For more information about this service and all our services fill out the form below or call on 01329 287 777

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The Built Environment

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THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

We offer Chemical Analysis for the Built Environment where sensitivity is required in understanding the composition and nature of various substances:

  • UKAS accredited Lead in paint analysis
  • UKAS accredited Lead and Chromuim in paint testing
  • Anthrax or gypsum in plaster
  • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in foam and polystyrene
  • Mould analysis
  • Paint layers and thickness
  • Tests for over 30 metals in paint

For more information on this and all our services please fill out the form below or call 01329 287 777

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Paint sampling for analysing the concentration of lead

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As part of a major refurbishment project, we were asked by a company in Portsmouth to undertake paint sampling, for analysing the concentration of lead. This is so the paint is able to be safely disposed of, as well as protecting the employees carrying out the works by knowing the correct PPE to wear. We also do a paint suite which tests for cadmium, chromium and lead which are commonly found within paints and are heavy metals.

 

For more information please call on 01329 287 777 or fill out the form below;

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Monitoring lead in air

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A new client of Envirochem within the oil and gas industry, have contacted our occupational hygiene team to help with monitoring lead in air.

This is while their contracted workforce are stripping and servicing old storage tanks ready to be used again. We have set up both personal and static background monitoring within the tanks, and all activity in and out of each tank across the day is logged to work out the personal exposure.

We will now analysis the samples back at our lab to check the dust concentration of both inhalable and respirable dust, as well as metal content using our ICP-OES, with the primary focus being the lead concentration.

Lead and Chromium in paint testing

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For many years lead and chromium based paints were used because of their strong colours, resistance to corrosion and speed of drying. Despite their useful properties these paints are in fact harmful, with lead being a particularly hazardous component of these paints. Unfortunately the uptake of lead into the body is very easy with a common pathway being as simple as dust via hand-to-mouth, making children common victims of lead poisoning. The effects of exposure to lead are devastating to young children, particularly those under the age of 6, with symptoms such as hearing loss, stunted growth, delayed development and nervous system damage.

Lead and chromium based paints were commonly used in buildings and homes built before 1978, when their use was outlawed. Lead and chromium based paints can be a whole range of colours such yellow, bright red, green colour or even a white. These sort of paints were used as both primers and top coats.

Paint samples that we receive are digested in Aqua Regia using microwave digestion and subsequently analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometry (ICP-OES) using our UKAS accredited procedure (please note, Envirochem is only accredited for the analysis of Lead and Chromium in paint and not the sampling of lead and chromium in paint).

 

For more information on this and all our other services please call us on 01329 287 777 or fill out the form below.

 

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Lead in Paint Survey for Homebuyers

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Envirochem were recently approached by an individual client who requested a Lead in paint survey be carried out on a property they wanted to purchase.

An individual client used Envirochems website to contact us and to request a Lead in paint survey on a property they wanted to purchase in Reigate. The client had a home buyers carried out on the property they wanted to purchase and it was highlighted that due to the age of the property, Lead paint may have been used in the decoration of the building. With concerns of the Lead content in paint and with a young child, the client wanted the paint from various areas of the building checked before remediation works are carried out within the property. With the aid of the client, sampling areas were agreed and scrapings from various surfaces were taken of the paint, labelled and bagged and taken back to the laboratory from analysis. Paint sampled are digested in Aqua Regia using microwave digestion and subsequently analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometry (ICP-OES) using our UKAS accredited procedure (please note, Envirochem are only accredited for the analysis of Lead in paint and not the sampling of lead in paint). A report was subsequently produced to report the results.

Envirochem can carry out a variety of paint analysis for individual homebuyers and other clients. For this serives and all our other services please call us on 01329 287 777 or fill in the form below.

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Envirochem were recently approached by an individual client who requested a Lead in paint survey be carried out on a property they wanted to purchase.

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Envirochem were recently approached by an individual client who requested a Lead in paint survey be carried out on a property they wanted to purchase.

An individual client used Envirochems website to contact us and to request a Lead in paint survey on a property they wanted to purchase in Reigate. The client had a Home-buyers Report carried out on the property they wanted to purchase and it was highlighted that due to the age of the property, Lead paint may have been used in the decoration of the building. With concerns of the Lead content in paint and with a young child, the client wanted the paint from various areas of the building checked before remediation works are carried out within the property. With the aid of the client, sampling areas were agreed and scrapings from various surfaces were taken of the paint, labelled and bagged and taken back to the laboratory from analysis. Paint sampled are digested in Aqua Regia using microwave digestion and subsequently analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometry (ICP-OES) using our UKAS accredited procedure (please note, Envirochem are only accredited for the analysis of Lead in paint and not the sampling of lead in paint). A report was subsequently produced to report the results.

Envirochem can carry out a variety of paint analysis for individual home buyers and other clients. If you require any of our chemical analysis services, occupational hygiene services, asbestos or microbiological services, please contact us on 01329-287777, or fill out the form below;

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Toxic Chemicals Found in Some Halloween Face Paints

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Tests have shown that several face paints contain  a variety of toxic chemicals including Lead, Cadmium and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) such as benzene. Advice for parents at Halloween is to preferably avoid the use of face paints and cosmetics, if they are to use them try and use organic or plant based brands.

 

For more on the story click HERE

Envirochem tests for many hazardous chemicals. To inquire fill in the form below

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Some Parks in Bristol Contain High Levels of Lead in Paint

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Many parks contain paint with dangerous metals in them. Six parks in Bristol have recently been tested and and half had ‘high levels’ of lead in paint. It has been advised that children should wash their hands after playing in such parks.

 

For more on the story click HERE

 

Envirochem offer many chemical tests including lead in paint. If you would like to inquire please fill in the form below

 

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