Aging lead paint: where exactly are the dangers?

[Norbert]

This post is about an apartment I moved into in April.

 

I guess the most obvious threats come from ingesting pant chips, inhaling dust stirred up by a sanding tool or licking the surface (if you're a child), but couldn't you also get considerable amounts of lead into your system by constantly inhaling air that came into contact with (was blown across and in between) peeling lead paint? For example, air that came through a window which had lead paint peeling off the exterior frame?

 

This is my room window:

 

 

As you can see, there are some pretty nasty lead paint peels coming off. There is also a black/grayish residue on the exterior sill, which I'm guessing contains lead in addition to dust and soot from the nearby road. I used to keep this window open at night as I slept. Occasionally, the wind would blow in small specs and pieces of lead paint. I simply picked them up with my bare fingers and chucked them in the trash. One time I was looking out of the window and hit my head on the frame, I'm sure that put a considerable amount lead dust into my hair and into the air I was breathing.

 

I wasn't too concerned because I asked my landlord, before signing the papers, if there were any hazards in the unit that I should be aware of and he answered me with a pretty confident no. I took his word, silly me, but this kept gnawing at the back of my mind for 4 months. I finally decided to get the paint tested and it turns out to be high-content lead paint. WAY, I mean WAAAY above what the EPA allows.

 

So my question is... can wind blowing across peeling lead paint dislodge enough lead particles and suspend them in the air to cause significant health risk? How readily do these organic lead compounds enter the air? Is wind blowing across it enough of a disturbance to get lead compounds airborne??? If I sat in this room with the window open for 4 months, how sick should I be? I don't have any symptoms, at least no obvious ones. I do feel a little more lazy than usual and I have an almost daily headache but I'm not sure if that's related to the lead or something else like mold in the building.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Norbert

[Greg H.]

If you live in the US, the landlord should have presented you with a Residential Lead-Based Paint Disclosure disclosing if there is lead-based paint in the building, if it was built prior to 1978 (when lead based housing paint became illegal in the US). This is required by Federal Law for any residential unit built prior to Jan 1 1978.

In any case, if you have lead based paint peeling off the walls, I'd talk to a lawyer to see if you can either A) force the landlord to repaint with an approved paint or B) move you out of the apartment without violating your lease fair failure to maintain the property in a safe condition.

[Norbert]

If you live in the US, the landlord should have presented you with a Residential Lead-Based Paint Disclosure disclosing if there is lead-based paint in the building, if it was built prior to 1978 (when lead based housing paint became illegal in the US). This is required by Federal Law for any residential unit built prior to Jan 1 1978.

In any case, if you have lead based paint peeling off the walls, I'd talk to a lawyer to see if you can either A) force the landlord to repaint with an approved paint or B) move you out of the apartment without violating your lease fair failure to maintain the property in a safe condition.

 

Yup, I live in the US and the house was built LONG before 1978 in the prime lead paint era -- 1961. I was aware of the law and assumed this guy had some integrity, apparently he doesn't. I guess I didn't want to judge a book by its cover, he's an immigrant and I refused to fall for stereotypes. He barely speaks English. Either he is playing dumb or corruption prevented him from finding out himself when he bought it, and he is genuinely oblivious. I don't really know. It's hard to believe the latter scenario, though. In any case, I will speak with a lawyer. I happen to know one personally.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Norbert

[StringJunky]

Yup, I live in the US and the house was built LONG before 1978 in the prime lead paint era -- 1961. I was aware of the law and assumed this guy had some integrity, apparently he doesn't. I guess I didn't want to judge a book by its cover, he's an immigrant and I refused to fall for stereotypes. He barely speaks English. Either he is playing dumb or corruption prevented him from finding out himself when he bought it, and he is genuinely oblivious. I don't really know. It's hard to believe the latter scenario, though. In any case, I will speak with a lawyer. I happen to know one personally.

 

I don't find it difficult to believe that he wouldn't know about whether he had lead paint on his property especially if he comes from a less developed country and also not everybody's a chemist...it's a minor detail that one needs to know on the scale of things. Now that he knows though he should deal with it if it is the law in your country to do so.

[Norbert]

I don't find it difficult to believe that he wouldn't know about whether he had lead paint on his property especially if he comes from a less developed country and also not everybody's a chemist...it's a minor detail that one needs to know on the scale of things. Now that he knows though he should deal with it if it is the law in your country to do so.

 

You're right. I told the other tenants and they will also try to convince him to do something about it.

 

Now, back to my question. Do lead paint chips and peeling lead paint emit lead compounds into the air in significant quantities? If wind blows across a lead-painted surface that's peeling, does that air now contain amounts of lead significant enough to cause a detectable increase in blood lead levels if one breathes it???

 

The scary thing about lead is that it takes an amount invisible to the naked eye to incapacitate you mentally and physically and even kill you.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Norbert

[StringJunky]

If you want to put your mind at rest until something is done you could brush and seal the lead-paint surfaces in your proximity with a PVA sealer at 1: 1 ratio with water like Unibond. Any PVA glue diluted to 1:1 will do really. It should dry to a clear(ish) finish depending on the porosity of the surfaces. This is what I would do for the moment if I were in your shoes.

 

It needs to be dealt with if you are in a confined space with it as you are then in a chronic exposure situation. Lead is a slow cumulative poison ie it will affect you gradually and invisibly over time and you probably won't notice until it's too late. Realistically, only someone knowledgeable in these matters can assess the degree of risk in your personal situation...get an environmental expert in from you area that works for your local authority who can also, if applicable, statutorily compel your your landlord to act.