LEAD PAINT TESTING; WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

What is lead?
Lead is a heavy metal element that is toxic to humans of all ages when taken into the body.

How has it been used?
Lead has been used to make pipe, roof flashing, fishing sinkers, and bullets. Lead compounds were added to paints to make them more colorful and durable. It was also added to gasoline to make a better fuel.

What does it do to us?
Even at relatively low levels in the bloodstream, lead can cause delayed development, lower IQ, and learning & behavioral problems in infants and young children. Permanent disabilities can include learning disabilities, behavior disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder, and decreased motor abilities affecting speech, walking and fine motor skills.

Who is at risk?
By their hand-to-mouth nature, young children are most at risk as they explore their environment by touch and taste. Lead poisoning is a special health risk for children under the age of six whose nervous systems are particularly vulnerable to lead. In fact, many lead-poisoned children are 1 - 2 years old. Pregnant women and their unborn children are also at risk to the harmful effects of lead, as are families doing renovations in older homes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.7 million children under the age of six in the United States have blood levels that exceed the level of concern established by CDC.

Where is it found?
Lead-based paint may be present in any residence built prior to 1978. Almost 3/4 of Maine homes are old enough to contain lead-based paint, which was banned for residential use in 1978. Here in Maine, approximately 41% of all housing was built before 1950 when the highest amounts of lead were used in paint. In some towns, this number can be as high as 75%. Other sources of exposure to lead include lead in the soil, especially around foundations where old paint chips accumulate, old pipes, old solder, imported ceramics with lead glaze, automobile emissions, industrial uses of lead, and bullets. In addition, lead paint is still available in marine and commercial paints, and is widely used in the fishing and paper mill industries today.

The predominant cause of childhood lead poisoning is the ingestion of lead-contaminated household dust. Most lead poisoned children come from homes built prior to 1950.

Can lead poisoning be prevented?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), high blood levels are among the most prevalent childhood conditions and the most prevalent threat to the health of children in the United States, yet childhood lead poisoning is entirely preventable.

The American Academy of Pediatrics states that, "Lead poisoning and its consequences can be prevented by blood lead screening followed, when appropriate, by education and case management, as well as by environmental abatement to prevent lead exposure to siblings and playmates."

Yet here in Maine "lead poisoning continues to affect about 1,000 children in Maine each year. Of these 1,000, approximately 100 will be seriously poisoned enough to require medical and environmental intervention. Of the 100 seriously poisoned children, 10 may go on to suffer permanent, lifelong neurologic damage. Most children are poisoned in their own homes as a result of exposure to old lead-based paint. Lead poisoning is a continuing, persistent threat to Maine's preschool children who are most vulnerable to its effects."
-MaryAnn Amrich, Program Manager: Maine Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program


How can lead poisoning happen?
Over 60% of the lead poisoned children in Maine come from homes where renovations, remodeling, or repainting have been done in the prior 6 months. Lead contaminated dust is often discharged into the environment during uncontrolled renovation and remodeling projects in older housing. The dust becomes a danger during renovation if precautions are not taken to isolate the work area and protect the workers. It remains a danger after the renovation work is done if specialized, lead-specific cleaning is not done.

Lead contaminated surface dust frequently comes from lead-based paint that is deteriorating (chipping or peeling). Visible paint chips in window wells or on the soil in the drip line are signs of paint in poor condition. Lead-based paint can fall from overhead surfaces or walls onto places where children can pick it up or it can get onto their toys or clothing. Exterior paint gets onto the soil and can be tracked into the house on shoes and bare feet. Play areas are another place where children can pick up lead and track it into the house. Dust is also created when lead-painted surfaces called friction surfaces slide past each other (like window sashes). Surfaces that hit each other (like doors on their frames) are called impact surfaces and can create dust, too.

Is all lead-based paint dangerous?
There is a difference between the mere presence of lead-based paint and the existence of lead-based paint hazards. Lead-based paint that is in good condition or that is covered by lead-free paint presents little risk unless it is damaged or chewed on by a child. Lead-based paint that is in poor condition releases lead into the home and environment where it can picked up on hands, toys, and clothing.

Since most of Maine's housing stock was built before 1978, much of it probably contains lead-based paint. Lead-based paint hazards are concentrated in older housing that is in poor condition due to substantial deferred maintenance. Currently well-maintained housing can become hazardous in the future if the property is not maintained or if remodeling is conducted without proper precautions.

Where does Maine stand on lead?
For the past twenty-five years the Maine Legislature has recognized that lead presents an environmental health hazard. The Lead Poisoning Control Act was first enacted in 1973 and has been the subject of numerous, substantive amendments during the intervening years. The Act currently states that the "goal of the State in the area of lead poisoning is to eradicate childhood lead poisoning by the year 2010 through the elimination of potential sources of environmental lead ..."