Lead is ubiquitous in the human environment as a result of industrialization and is considered a toxic metal.  Until 1978, lead was used in residential paints and can also be found in residential items such as old painted toys and furniture, food and liquids stored in lead crystal, or lead-glazed pottery and porcelain.  Lead paint can also be found in various industrial and commercial building components.  Lead exposure can come from a variety of sources including lead in paint, gasoline, soil and dust, air, food, and drinking water.   In commercial and residential environments, paint, dust and soil are the most common environmental lead sources.

 

Residential Lead Exposure

 

Children are particularly susceptible to lead’s toxic effects, especially children age six or under because their bodies are growing quickly and therefore absorb more lead.  Lead poisoning is for the most part, silent, most poisoned children have no symptoms.  Lead poisoning in children can cause attention span deficits, reading and learning disabilities, delayed cognitive development, decreased stature or growth, decreased hearing acuity, can decrease the ability to maintain a steady posture, and can lower mean intelligence quotient (IQ) scores.       

 

Lead exposure and corresponding elevated blood lead levels in children is mostly caused by deteriorated lead paint due to deferred maintenance as well as disturbance to lead paint caused by renovation, demolition, remodeling, and re-painting activities without using proper control methods.        

 

FEDERAL LAWS FOR RESIDENTIAL EXPOSURE

 

Federal EPA has played a major role in addressing residential lead hazards by conducting research, developing regulations, and designing educational outreach efforts and materials.   HUD "Guidelines" were issued pursuant to Section 1017 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X.  The HUD Guidelines are based on the concepts, definitions, and requirements set forth by Congress in Title X.

The HUD Guidelines provide detailed, comprehensive, technical information on how to identify lead-based paint hazards in housing and how to control such hazards safely and efficiently. The goal of the Guidelines is to help property owners, private contractors, and Government agencies sharply reduce children’s exposure to lead without unnecessarily increasing the cost of housing.

In addition, Congress recognized that families have a right to know about lead-based paint and potential lead hazards in their homes, so Congress directed EPA and HUD to work together to develop disclosure requirements for sales and leases of older housing. These requirements became effective in 1996 and includes the following disclosures:

 

·         Landlords -  must disclose known information on Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazards before leases can take effect

·         Sellers – have to disclose known Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazards prior to selling a home

·         Buyers – are given up to ten (10) days to conduct a Lead Inspection and/or Risk Assessment to identify any Lead Hazards 

 

CALIFORNIA LAWS FOR RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS

 

For the control of lead exposure in California’s residential and public buildings, California received authorization from EPA to administer and enforce their own Lead-Based Paint program.  California’s lead accreditation and certification program began in June, 1994.  At that time, new childhood lead poisoning prevention legislation (Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Section 35001 et seq.) required the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to create a program to certify lead-related construction trades-people and accredit lead-related construction training providers. Final regulations establishing this program took effect April 5, 1995. Revisions to these regulations that established work practice standards for lead-related construction and amended the previously established accreditation and certification requirements went into effect in March, 1998.

 

CALIFORNIA Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act

Under the California Education Code Section 32240-32245, a law was implemented







                           by establishing a lead poisoning prevention and protection program for California







                           schools to survey and ascertain risk factors that predict lead contamination in public schools. It establishes guidelines







                           for notification and advisement regarding survey findings, utilization of state certified workers for activities to remediate







                           lead-hazards and prohibits the use of potential sources of lead contamination in public schools.

 

Occupational Exposure

 

Various studies conducted by NIOSH, as well as other agencies, have found that workplace air and surface dust are the primary sources of occupational lead exposure.  When renovation or demolition activities generate airborne dust from contaminated paint, soil, or surface dust they can potentially become occupational lead hazards.  Workers exposed to lead in the workplace can bring it home with them on their hands, or clothes.  Cumulative exposure to lead in adults may result in damage to the blood, nervous system, kidneys, bones, heart, reproductive system, and contributes to high blood pressure.  In addition, lead exposure in adults can cause difficulties during pregnancy and other reproductive problems as well as memory and concentration problems.     

 

Exposure to lead occurs in several different occupations in the construction industry, including renovation, alteration, repair, removal, demolition or salvage of structures where lead or lead-containing materials are present; as well as new construction and installation of products containing lead. In addition, there are construction related activities where exposure to lead may occur, including transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of lead or materials containing lead on construction sites, and maintenance operations associated with construction activities.

 

Occupational lead exposure taken in large enough doses, can kill you in a matter of days. A condition affecting the brain called acute encephalopathy may arise which develops quickly to seizures, coma, and death from cardio-respiratory arrest.  Various forms of encephalopathy may arise from extended, chronic exposure to lower doses of lead. There is no sharp dividing line between rapidly developing acute effects of lead, and chronic effects which take longer to acquire. Lead adversely affects numerous body systems, and causes forms of health impairment and disease which arise after periods of exposure as short as days or as long as several years.

The primary purpose of OSHA is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for every working man and woman. The occupational health standard for lead in construction is designed to protect workers exposed to inorganic lead including metallic lead, all inorganic lead compounds and organic lead soaps.

Federal and California OSHA standards for lead in construction have been implemented for the safe and healthful working conditions of employees and their families and must be strictly adhered to when the following activities are performed:

·         Demolition or salvage of structures where lead or materials containing lead are present;

·         Removal or encapsulation of lead or lead-containing materials;

·         New construction, alteration, repair, or renovation of structures, substrates, or portions thereof, that contain lead, or materials containing lead;

·         Installation of products containing lead;

·         Lead contamination/emergency cleanup;

·         Transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of lead or materials containing lead on the site or location at which construction activities are performed, and

·         Maintenance operations associated with the construction activities described above