Lead in Paint Issue

Lead in Paint:  Highly toxic

Lead (Pb) is an odourless, bluish-grey, lustrous metal that is malleable, ductile, and resistant to chemical corrosion. Lead occurs naturally in bedrock, soils, tills, sediments, surface waters, ground-waters, and sea-water. Lead is toxic in nature and on being exposed can cause several diseases to human body. The toxic effects of lead have long been well known, especially as regards acute forms of poisoning. “Too much lead can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys, and can cause high blood pressure and anemia. Lead accumulates in the bones and lead poisoning may be diagnosed from a blue line around the gums. Lead is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children and to pregnant women. High blood lead levels in children can cause consequences which may be irreversible including learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental retardation. At very high levels, lead can cause convulsions, coma and death.” (WHO)

Once lead is absorbed by the body, mainly through breathing and feeding, lead is not metabolized, but mostly expelled. Portion of lead compound settles into the tissues and notably:

·         in the blood, where it is carried almost exclusively by the erythrocytes

·         in mineral tissues (bones and teeth), where it deposits

·         in soft tissues (kidneys, bone marrow, liver and brain)

Sources/Uses of lead

Lead can be found in many products and locations. Some we might never have thought of, including some imported candies, toys, and traditional medicines. The most common cause of lead poisoning is dust and chips from old paint. Some of the common sources of lead are as follows:

Sources	Description
Paint	Lead is used in paint to add color, improve the ability of the paint to hide the surface it covers, and to make it last longer.
Dust	Lead dust is the most common way that people specially children is exposed to lead due to settled dust particles. Inside the home, most lead dust comes from chipping and flaking paint or when paint is scraped, sanded, or disturbed during home remodeling. Young children usually get exposed to lead when they put something with lead dust on it into their mouths.
Soil	Lead comes from metal smelting, battery manufacturing, and other factories that use lead. This lead gets into the air and then mixes with the soil near homes. Flaking lead-based paint on the outside of buildings can also mix with the soil close to buildings. Lead-based paint mixing with soil is a problem during home remodeling if workers are not careful.
Drinking Water	Lead seldom occurs naturally in water supplies like rivers and lakes. Lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of the corrosion, or wearing away, of materials containing lead in the water distribution system and household or building plumbing.
Air	Lead can be present in outdoor and indoor air. Lead in air comes mainly from industrial sources (e.g., smelters, waste incinerators, utilities, and lead-acid battery manufacturers). Wind-blown soil and road dust also may contain naturally occurring lead as well as lead from industrial sources, deteriorated paint, and the combustion of leaded gasoline and aviation fuel.
Children Jewelry and toys	Lead is found in children's jewelry. It also has been found in inexpensive metal amulets worn for good luck or protection. Some costume jewelry designed for adults has also been found to contain lead.
The workplace	People exposed to lead at work may bring lead home on their clothes, shoes, hair, or skin. Some jobs that expose people to lead include: home improvement; painting and refinishing; car or radiator repair; plumbing; construction; welding and cutting; electronics; municipal waste incineration; lead compound manufacturing; manufacturing of rubber products, batteries, and plastics; lead smelting and refining; working in brass or bronze foundries; demolition; and working with scrap metal.
Lead-glazed ceramics, china, leaded crystal, pewter	Lead may get into foods or liquids that have been stored in ceramics, pottery, china, or crystal with lead in it.  Lead can be found in candy, wrappers and pottery containers

Some other common sources of lead are as lead Batteries, radiators for cars and trucks, and some colors of ink also contain lead.

1.      Lead in Paint

a.       Definition of Lead paint (UNEP/GAELP)

Paint is typically a formulated mixture of resins, pigments, fillers, solvents, and other additives. The term paint is used to also include varnishes, lacquers, stains, enamels, glazes, primers, and coatings. Paints in general are differentiated into decorative or architectural paints and industrial paints. The term lead paint is defined as paint to which one or more lead compounds have been added.

 Why lead is added on paint?

Lead is added to paints as a pigment because of the following properties it gave to the paint. Compounds like lead chromates, lead oxides, lead molybdates and lead sulphate are added in paint to give brightness and fresher appearance to the paint. Lead compounds like lead tetroxide “red lead” are added in paint as moisture resistant to prevent metals from corrosion and wood from deteriorating enhancing the paint durability. Lead compounds like lead naphthenate, lead acetate and lead octate are added to oil based (enamel) paints to make the paint dry quickly and more evenly.

a.       Why we talk about Lead paint?

Lead-based paint is a major concern from health prospective as well as environmental perspective cause of its nature of easily absorption into environment when it chips, turns into dust, or gets into the soil. Lead is highly toxic and can act as poison if it enters the human body. Even with small dose human body is highly affected which makes it major concern to deal with as high percentage of children along with adult are being exposed to lead on daily basis via food, drinking water, air, household dust, and soil.

Lead Levels which is considered Elevated in Adults are as follows:

•  At levels above 80 µg/dL, serious, permanent health damage may occur (extremely dangerous).
•  Between 40 and 80 µg/dL, serious health damage may be occurring, even if there are no symptoms (seriously elevated).
•  Between 25 and 40 µg/dL, regular exposure is occurring. There is some evidence of potential physiologic problems (elevated).
•  Between 10 and 25 µg/dL, lead is building up in the body and some exposure is occurring.
• The typical level for U.S. adults is less than 10 µg/dL (mean = 3 µg/dL).

Exposure Pathway

Lead exposure occurs when lead dust or fumes are inhaled, or when lead is ingested via contaminated hands, food, water, cigarettes or clothing. The two most common routes of human lead exposure are respiratory (breathing lead fumes or lead dust into the lungs) and gastrointestinal (ingesting lead through the mouth into the stomach and intestines). The respiratory route is the most common route for occupational exposure; the gastrointestinal route is the predominant route of childhood exposure. Lead entering the respiratory and digestive systems is released to the blood and distributed throughout the body.

On children

Children are often at a higher risk for lead exposure than adults. Even before birth, the human fetus is exposed to lead throughout pregnancy. Children eat more food, drink more water and breathe more air per unit of body weight than do adults. Children have an innate curiosity to explore their world and engage in developmentally appropriate hand‐to‐mouth behavior: a typical one to six year old child ingests approximately 100 milligrams of house dust and soil each day. Wherever house dust and soils are contaminated with lead, children ingest lead along with the dust and soil. In those children who suffer from nutritional deficiencies, ingested lead is absorbed at an increased rate.

On workers

Workers can be exposed to lead by creating dust or fumes during every day work activities. Fumes are easier to breathe in and therefore may be more dangerous than dust. These are some of the most common ways to be exposed.

Impacts

Lead is highly toxic. A single dose of lead can cause severe emergency symptoms. Lead affects all organs and functions of the body to varying degrees. Lead serves no useful biological function in humans and exposure to lead can affect many different parts of the human body. A single high dose of lead can cause severe emergency symptoms. High lead exposure may cause vomiting, staggering walk, muscle weakness, seizures, or coma. The frequency and severity of symptoms among exposed individuals depends upon the amount of exposure.

Chronic Poisoning		Acute Poisoning
On Child	Adult
Lead could be harmful to children even at fairly low levels (levels that were once thought to be safe), and the risk of damage rises when the blood levels of lead increase. The symptoms may develop over time. Children may sometimes appear to be healthy even if they have high levels of lead in their bloodstreams.   Over time however, the following problems may arise: ·    Hyperactivity ·    Headaches ·    Learning disabilities ·    Mental retardation ·    Retarded mental development ·    Retarded physical development i.e. slow growth ·    Behavioral problems ·    Learning disorders ·    Drastically reduced attention span ·    Hearing loss	The poisoning in adults can cause: ·         digestive problems ·         high blood pressure ·         memory loss ·         Poor muscle coordination ·         joint and muscle pain ·         Over average irritability ·         Damage to the kidneys ·         Damage to the brain ·         Damage to the nerves ·         Fetal development in pregnant women is abnormal and can also lead to fetal death if lead paint exposure is severe.	The occurrence of lead poisoning is less common but the symptoms show up faster and are more likely to be fatal. Some of the classical symptoms are: ·    Diarrhea ·    Weakness of the limbs ·    Coma ·    Severe abdominal pain ·    Nausea and vomiting ·    Seizures

*Note: If acute poisoning however reaches the stage of seizures and coma, then there will be a high risk of death. Even if the person does survive, the chances of permanent brain damages taking place are strong. The long-term effects of even low levels of lead can also be severe and permanent. Lead exposure affects a child's intellectual development. Even low levels of lead, that is, below the current "acceptable" level of 10 micrograms per deciliter, have been linked with an average loss of 7.4 IQ points compared with pre-school children whose lifetime average blood lead concentrations remained at 1 microgram per deciliter. Exposure to lead in utero is also thought to be a contributing factor of schizophrenia.

1.       How can you keep yourself and your child protect from lead exposure?

Simple steps like keeping your home clean and well-maintained will go a long way in preventing lead exposure. You can lower the chances of exposure to lead in your home, both now and in the future, by taking these steps:

Child

Adult/Workers

·         Have your child's blood lead level tested at age 1 and 2. Children from 3 to 6 years of age should have their blood tested. ·         Protect children from Painting area and area containing paint scraps. ·         Frequently wash your child's hands and toys to reduce contact with dust and paint scraps. ·         Use cold tap water for drinking and cooking ·         Avoid using cosmetics that contain lead. For School: ·         Keep school paint free by replacing the lead containing resources with non-lead resources. ·         Use non-lead paint available in market. ·         Bring awareness among school children via putting posters or pamphlets or any other sort of media to let children know about lead and its impact on human health.

·    Eat and/or drink in areas where lead-containing products are not being handled or processed. ·    Shower and change your clothes and shoes after working around sources having lead-based products. This will keep lead dust from being tracked through your home, which will lower the chance of your family being exposed. ·    Wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as goggles, gloves, boots, and protective clothing, to prevent contact while working around lead dust and lead based paint removal from your working area or house.(follow guidelines given in ********) ·    If you are a Pregnant or working mom immediately consult your doctor to test your blood lead level (BLL). ·    Measure your regular blood level. If levels are high, you can take steps to protect yourself and your family better. ·    Clean debris and paint scraps out on a regular basis ·    Teach children to wipe and remove their shoes and wash hands after playing outdoors

Substitutes/Alternative for lead paint

Titanium White:

Paint manufacturers replaced white lead with a less toxic substitute, titanium white (based on the pigment titanium

dioxide) which was first used in paints in the 19th century. It is considered safe enough to be used as a food

coloring and in toothpaste, and is a common ingredient in sunscreen. The titanium white used in most paints

today is often coated with silicon or aluminum oxides for better durability. Titanium white has far greater opacity

and tinting strength than lead white, and it can easily overpower most other pigments if not mixed carefully.

Titanium white has been criticized for leading to "chalkiness" in mixtures, and for allegedly decreasing the

permanence of organic pigments mixed with it due to its high refractive index.

Zinc:

Zinc oxide white are considered inferior to white lead for interior house painting. Zinc white is less opaque and

weaker in tinting strength than either titanium white or lead white. Paints that contained zinc, for example,

absorbed 12 to 15 times more water than lead-based paints. Although zinc white is the standard white in

watercolors, its structural soundness in oils has been debated. Zinc white dries slowly and creates a relatively

inflexible paint film. Critics of the pigment argue that its use leads to excessive cracking and delamination, even

when used sparingly.

Recommendation

Mass Awareness program should be launched with specific target group like children, pregnant women and paint workers. Regulatory bodies should be identified and made responsible for effective monitoring of the import, production, sale, distribution, promotion of lead based paint. Standard should be enacted in order to introduce no added lead paint. Packaging must have clear labeling about the content of lead. Producers should pit cautionary notice about toxic levels of ingredients used in paint. 3rd party certification should come into account

*** What Consumers/Users can do to help the campaign?***** a.       If you are having home renovation, repairs, or painting done, make sure your paint is Lead-Safe Certified. b.       Be informed about Lead and spread awareness to your neighbor, people from workplace, friends and families. c.    Make sure of demanding the non-lead paint from market. d.       See the label and enquire if the paint contain any lead or not. e.        Email, SMS, write or call the manufacturer of your favorite paint, and let them know that you are conscious about the presence of lead and its impact on health. f.        Write to social media, blog, media editor and news reporter to spread the issue about lead based paint.

Guidelines to follow during Paint Removal or Renovation:

• During the situation of paint removal, one must follow given guidelines as precaution:
• Avoid working in windy conditions, as the lead dust and paint might be blown off the plastic sheeting as it dries.
•  Exclude all others from the work area, especially pregnant women, children and pets.
• Use a chemical paint stripper, preferably one with a paste that can be applied with a brush.
• Remove furniture, rugs, curtains, food, clothing and other household items from the work area. Use plastic sheeting or impervious materials such as tarpaulin or plastic sheeting to completely cover anything that cannot be moved to prevent dust from travelling to neighboring properties.
• Isolate the work area by covering doorways and vents with plastic sheeting and tape. This will prevent the spread of paint scrapings to other parts of the house.
• Always wear goggles, gloves, protective clothing and a good quality breathing mask. If you get any paint stripper on your skin or in your eyes, wash it off right away.
• Clean the work area thoroughly at the end of each day. Put paint scrapings and chips in a sealed container marked Hazardous Waste. Then wipe down the work area with a clean damp cloth, and throw the cloth away.
• Pick up loose paint chips carefully with a paper towel and discard in the trash, and then wipe the surface clean with a wet paper towel.
• Take precautions to avoid creating lead dust when remodeling, renovating or maintaining your home.
• Do not use a broom, compressed air or a vacuum cleaner as it will spread lead dust.
• Use a spray bottle to wet down all dust and debris lying on the plastic sheeting before taking them up.
• Dampen dusty outside areas with spray from a garden hose and sweep and collect debris. Avoid dry sweeping since it spreads lead dust.

Be Safe yourself and Keep other Safe from non- Lead Paints