A Lump of Lead
Until 1965, many paints on the New Zealand market had high lead levels. This was particularly true of pre-1945 paints. Even if a building has been recently painted, it may have been painted with lead based paints or have layers of old paint covered by modern paint. Today only special purpose paints contain lead and these are clearly labeled.
You can get lead poisoning if you do not take care when you remove lead-based paint from the interior or exterior of a building. Children, especially pre-schoolers, are particularly at risk from lead poisoning because they may swallow bit of paint that contain lead or soil that has been contaminated. Children chewing on painted cots or toys are also at risk if lead-based paint has been used.
Home renovators often unknowingly create hazards. Fine lead-based paint particles deposited in soil of household dust can become a constant risk to the health of young children, other household occupants and pets. Lead enters the body as lead containing dusts (produced by sanding or by disturbing flaking or chalking lead-based paint) or lead fumes (produced by heat and burning).
Lead-based paint removal is hazardous as the removal of lead-based paint can result in harm to both the people doing the job and the people who live or work nearby. Untreated lead poisoning can lead to brain damage or even death.
Many adults and children with lead poisoning will have either very vague or non-specific symptoms such as stomach pains, difficulty sleeping, constipation and loss of appetite or no symptoms at all. Children who may have no obvious symptoms can still suffer some brain damage over a period of time. Pets often show symptoms of lead poisoning before people. If a pet is unwell and lead poisoning is diagnosed, a doctor should check all members of the household.
If you think a child may have been exposed to paint dust, flakes of old paint, soil with paint dust in it, or may have chewed on some old paint, you should ask your doctor to check the child's blood lead level.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell lead-based paints by their appearance, but there is a simple test that can detect whether the paint is a health risk. If a building is over 25 years old it is best to presume that it has been painted with lead-based paint. Simply bring in a flake of the paint to your local Resene ColorShop and we can test it for you for free. The test only takes a couple of minutes and can be done while you wait.
If the paint chip tests positive for lead-based paint, you will need to be very careful with your surface preparation and painting. Resene has developed some guidelines to dealing with lead-based paint.
Further safety information on a wide range of painting hazards is available from the Putting Your Safety first section of the Resene website.
Have a safe summer!
