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Lead Paint Removal Basic Advice: Methods, Safety Hazards
- Basic Safety advice for lead paint removal on buildings
- Comparison of the relative safety of different lead paint removal methods
- Certification & Training for Lead Paint Abatement, Cleanup, or Removal Workers & Companies
- Warnings about un-trained lead paint removal workers
- Studies evaluating and comparing lead paint removal methods
- Study recommends lead paint removal on steel structures
- NPS preservation brief: Exterior Problems on Historic Woodwork
- Questions & Answers about how to remove lead paint from buildings
- References
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This article warns about un-supervised or un-trained environmental cleanup companies or work crews handling asbestos, lead, mold, and similar indoor contaminants, including
identification of amateur or improper asbestos "abatement" projects that failed to properly remove materials or that left abandoned
asbestos materials in place.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Lead Paint Removal Basics - Which Lead Paint Removal Method is Safest?
Readers should see PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS, CURE, PREVENTION - in depth information on paint failure cause, cure, prevention at this website, Also see LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE.
Lead exposure hazards during removal of lead paint on buildings comes through exposure to lead paint dust or fumes that are breathed, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin by direct contact.
If you are stripping lead-based paint from a building the hazards of lead paint exposure depend on several variables including what personal protection you are wearing, air and dust control, the lead paint stripping method used, and of course the total level of lead in or on the surface being stripped of paint. The following lead paint stripping methods are listed in order of most dangerous to less dangerous:
- Propane torch stripping of lead paint is potentially the most dangerous method because you are burning and vaporizing the lead paint, making it easy to breathe lead vapors and possibly to absorb lead through the skin, especially if you're sweaty and skin is exposed.
- Infra-red heating to strip lead paint: is similar in effect to propane torch stripping insofar as it too vaporizes and can burn off lead paint leading to high exposure to volatile lead vapors
- Chemical strippers for lead paint and chemical strippers used in a dip or trough to remove lead paint are dangerous in part because the chemicals most often used are themselves dangerous, containing carcinogens that are easily absorbed by breathing or through the skin.
- Sanding or scraping lead-based paint is probably second in risk level to using a propane torch but it produces a high level of ultrafine paint dust particles that require expert dust control and collection. Remember seeing those guys stripping paint off of the exterior of an older home without using dropcloths? Later lead contamination of the soil became a particular concern around such homes, especially where young children were likely to be rolling around in the dirt close to the building.
- Electric heat guns for stripping lead-based paint: According to the Old House Journal, who in turn quoted a National Bureau of Standards Lead Paint Hazards report, using a heat gun or electric "hot air gun" is safer than propane torches, sanding and scraping, infra red heating (also can vaporize lead paint), solvents (dangerous themselves, often carcinogenic), or dip tank methods (solvents in a tank or site-built trough) but the same report and the OJH concluded that no lead paint stripping method was considered anywhere the "perfect safety" rating - every method is risky.
These paint stripping methods are discussed in depth along with helpful recommendations for removing and restoring exterior paint on buildings in this excellent brief: Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork, Kay D. Weeks and David W. Look, AIA, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Parks Service Preservation Brief No. 10.
Other lead paint removal methods were listed in a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers: Methods for Removal of Lead Paint from Steel Structures, Technical Report REMR-EM-08
Abrasive blasting [see MOLD CLEANUP by MEDIA BLASTING]
- Wet Abrasive Blasting
- Vacuum Blasting
- Water Blasting
- Water Blasting with Abrasive Injection
- Power Tool Cleaning to Bare Metal
- Chemical Stripping
- Other blasting methods.
In discussing maintenance painting, the study includes an interesting finding about using chemical stripping:
Chemical stripping is not an alternative for maintenance painting
because it does not locate areas with loose coating. However, chemical
stripping should be considered when total removal of the paint is warranted,
especially on relatively small areas such as on machinery, because the
stripper can be applied to all surfaces with little difficulty.
The OJH and other sources recommend eight safety measures when lead-containing paint is being stripped:
- Keep pregnant women and children under six years old out of the building during paint stripping
- Use adequate ventilation and dust control - typically an indoor work area is kept under negative pressure by fans blowing outside through windows, and to avoid blowing dust onto neighbors, special ventilation systems (same as used for mold remediation or asbestos cleanups) use filters as part of the exhaust fan system.
- Personal protective gear for workers includes a HEPA-rated respirator and if heat is being used, a canister that also filters out volatiles, combined with protective clothing, gloves, eye protection, etc. Don't wear your dusty lead-dust-contaminated clothing back into other areas of the building, nor in your car or truck, nor back home. We use disposable Tyvek-type coveralls that are bagged at the exit to the work area. If you are wearing clothing that is going to be washed and re-used, wash those items by themselves and rinse the washer afterwards.
- Do not eat or smoke near the work area and don't eat with lead-dust-contaminated hands. Wash up before eating.
- Dispose of the stripped lead paint dust, debris, scraps by bagging them for proper handling. If your community permits you can dispose of these materials as construction debris or in some communities, household trash. Check with local officials to stay out of trouble. If you are using a shop-vacuum to clean up lead dust and debris, don't use the same vacuum in other building areas unless its filter is changed and the vac is first cleaned. The exhaust from some shop vacs may be simply redistributing lead dust and particles.
- Watch out for environmental testing and cleanup that are not performed by qualified experts. Details & examples of what can go wrong are at LEAD PAINT REMOVAL TROUBLES and similar cases are found at ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Amateur, Incomplete and Asbestos Removal, Certification.
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- 3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865
or email: gary@ouncehome.com
- 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors
Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net
- Thanks to reader GK October 2010 for discussing incompetent lead paint removal, lead paint dust contamination left indoors by the painting contractor, and how to clean up the lead paint dust mess.
- Asbestos regulations for Ontario are published under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and are in Ontario Regulation 278/05 Web search 11/4/2010, original source: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_050278_e.htm
- "Lead Poisoning Update", The Old House Journal, 1983
- Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork [Copy on file as /exterior/Preservation_Brief_10_ Exterior_Paint_Problems_on_Historic_Woodwork.pdf ] - , Kay D. Weeks and David W. Look, AIA, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Parks Service Preservation Brief No. 10. Web search 02/01/2011, original source: http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief10.htm
- Methods for Removal of Lead Paint from Steel Structures, Technical Report REMR-EM-08, Lloyd Smith, Corrosion Control Consultants & Labs, Inc., Kentwood MI, Alfred Beitelman, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1994, Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers, Washington DC 20314. Websearch 02/01/2011, original source: http://www.cecer.army.mil/techreports/beit_led/BEIT_LED.RPT.post.PDF
- National Bureau of Standards lead paint hazards report NBSIR-75-974 [Abstract]. Demonstration of experimental lead paint hazard abatement methods in Atlanta, Georgia final, Dept. of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, Institute for Applied Technology ; Springfield, Va. : for sale by the National Technical Information Service, 1978, OCLC # 04094947, at OCSPP Chemical Library/Washington,DC
- PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS, CURE, PREVENTION - in depth at this website
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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- Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment
Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Technical Reference Guide purchased as a single order. Just enter INSPECTATRG in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- US CPSC Document #426 "How to Protect Your Family from Lead in the Home" with additional information and annotations
- "Standard Operating Procedure for Determining Lead (Pb) and Its Availability in Children's Metal Jewelry", US CPSC, 2/3/2005
- "Displaced Gypsies at Risk from Lead in Kosovo Camps," Nicholas Wood, New York Times, 5 February 2006 p5.
- Lead in Drinking Water: Advice
- Tests for Lead Contamination in Water
- Lead in Drinking Water - Testing Problems/Advice
- How to Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home U.S. CPSC publication with additional links and resource references
- Lead Hazards in buildings, Dust, Paint, Water: General Advice, Testing Procedures, Illnesses with additional links and resource references for Lead Hazards
- Lead Testing & Correcting Contamination from Lead Water Supply Lines/Entry Mains - Lead Pipe Problems/Advice
- Extreme Lead Poisoning Symptoms Suggested by Feb 2006 NY Times Article on Kosovo Roma Camps
- "Dally No Longer, Get the Lead Out," Jane Brody, The New York Times," 17 January 2006 p. F6. This is a good article for summarizing the lead issue.
- SOP for Determining Lead (Pb) and And Its Availability in Children's Jewelry
- Toy Industry Policy on Lead in Toys, International Council of Toy Industries, October 8, 1997
"The voluntary standard established in the United States under ASTM F-963 and the European standard under EN-71 for soluble lead in toys (lead which may migrate from the toy and be ingested by the child) is 90 parts-per-million. At that level, any intentional use of lead in paints or other surface coatings containing lead would immediately put the toy over the permitted limit."
"Under federal law, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) enforces a standard for total lead of 600 ppm. Recently, the CPSC refused to lower the lead limit in paint and other similar surface coating materials to 100 ppm after finding that most paints sold in the United States were already at or below that level and, therefore, these materials did not present an unreasonable risk of injury warranting further government regulation."
- Environmental Hazard Testing, Effects, Remedies, Prevention our main Enviro-Haz Web Page
- Appropriate Methods for Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing, Sharon C. Park, AIA, and Douglas C. Hicks, U.S. National Park Service.
- "Report on the National Survey of Lead-Based Paint in Housing," - Executive Summary - U.S. EPA, April, 1995 (EPA 747-R-95-003). An Executive Summary of this report is provided in this web page below.
The Full report is at this (large) pdf file.
- Using X-ray fluorescence for analysis of lead in paint and applicability of other agencies lead levels OSHA, 03/01/1999 - this is an important document because OSHA does not accept XRF for analysis of lead exposure in the workplace.
"The lead-in-construction standard was intended to apply to any detectable concentration of lead in paint, as even small concentrations of lead can result in unacceptable employee exposures depending upon on the method of removal and other workplace conditions. Since these conditions can vary greatly, the lead-in-construction standard was written to require exposure monitoring or the use of historical or objective data to ensure that employee exposures do not exceed the action level. Historical data may be applied to all construction tasks involving lead. Objective data was intended to apply to all tasks other than those listed under paragraph (d)(2) of the standard.
"OSHA does not consider X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to be an acceptable method of analysis. As stated in your letter, XRF analyzers are generally considered accurate when concentrations of lead in paint exceed 1 mg/cm�. For the purposes of occupational health, these levels are considered substantial and may easily present an exposure hazard. Without having conducted monitoring, or without the benefit of historical or objective data, the employer has no assurance of the employee's exposure.
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"Other regulatory agencies, such as Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) have designated levels of lead in paint below which they consider the paint to be non-lead containing. The missions of these agencies differ from OSHA's, and for that reason, OSHA cannot recognize these levels as safe under workplace situations"
We recommend reviewing this position letter from OSHA. -- DF
- How to Identify Lead Paint Hazards, Maryland Department of the Environment, outlines
when a lead inspection is necessary, who can perform a lead inspection, and the types of analysis used for lead inspections and testing. Maryland
DOE includes suggestions for do-it-yourself lead paint testing using paint chips or scrapings. If you follow this approach be sure your
samples accurately represent conditions at the whole building, inside and out -- DF.
- Sample XRF Lead Survey Report, "Lead Paint Inspection and Visual
Assessment Single Family Dwelling, Murdock & Assoc., Mattoon, IL.
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