Lead in Paint: A Health Hazard

Lead paint is a paint that contains lead. Normally, lead is added to paint in order to make drying faster, increase durability, resist moisture, and make the fresh appearance long lasting.

No doubt the paint quality gets enhanced because of the presence of lead; but lead is a very harmful substance. Lead is a poisonous substance that affects people of all age groups; and one major source of lead-poisoning is lead paint. It is found that lead-poisoning may cause mental dysfunction as well as irreparable damage to the brain. Even with very low level of exposure, it can retard foetal growth. Common problems such as increase of blood pressure, irritability, reproduction malfunction, and improper muscle co-ordination may be caused by lead-poisoning in adults. With the help of some basic testing methodologies, it is possible to easily verify the presence of lead in paint or other lead-related hazards in the household. While doing renovation and repainting without taking care of proper safety measures, there is a chance of people getting lead-poisoned.

As a preventive measure for lead-poisoning, the entire household needs to be scanned first for finding any lead-containing items. Suspected surfaces and dishware must be examined. For lead testing, 3 approaches are mainly used: lead paint inspection, risk assessment and lead hazard screen.

Nowadays, there are many do-it-yourself (DIY) home test kits available in the market. But officially these kits and products have not yet been evaluated and approved by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Using the test kits, presence of lead can be detected in water, soil, glasses, paint, dust, dishware, walls, windows, ceramics, ceilings, and floors. The do-it-yourself home test kits are not only user-friendly but also efficient enough to accurately provide any lead-contamination information. The professional lead test kit normally contains some non-toxic paper strips which are chemically impregnated. When these paper strips come in contact with water, they get activated and can detect up to 5 ppm of lead on a surface. The white test strips when put on a lead-containing surface and activated with water will instantly turn "red" if it finds a problem.

In case you happen to discover lead-based paint present in your house, it is advisable not to try to remove the paint yourself. You should immediately contact the local health department and look for an expert having specialized training in lead-based paint removal. In fact you will find a lot of experts who can cover, replace or remove lead paint. The state medical department and the government release notices and organize public awareness campaigns about removing lead paint from time to time.

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