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Paint that contains the metal lead is called lead paint. In 1978, the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered that paint containing more than 0.06
percent lead be banned from residential use.
The older your home, the greater the chance it has lead-based paint, which
remains a threat even after you have painted over it with coats of lead-free
paint. If you scrape, sand, or heat lead paint, lead can become airborne and
make it into your body or contaminate the soil around your home.
Children are especially vulnerable to dust
that can get on toys and hands and in the mouth, and suffer among the worst
effects.
For hundreds of years, the primary white pigment in paints was white lead.
Red lead was once popular as a primer. However, lead paint was banned in other
countries in the early 20th century, but not in the United States
until the 1970s.
Anyone who has ever come into contact with lead paint is at risk for mild to
severe illness, even death. Lead is extremely toxic to living organisms, and
especially dangers to children under age 6 whose bodies are still developing.
The biggest source of concern is the lead paint that is found in much of our
nation’s older housing. Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) estimates that about 38 million homes in the U.S. still
contain some lead paint. While lead paint that is in intact condition does not
pose an immediate concern, lead paint that is allowed to deteriorate creates a
lead-based paint hazard. It can contaminate household dust as well as bare soil
around the house, where children may play. In either situation, a child who
comes into contact with lead-contaminated dust or soil is easily poisoned. All
it takes is hand-to-mouth activity, which is perfectly normal for young children
to engage in. All it takes is the lead dust equivalent of a single grain of salt
for a child to register an elevated blood lead level.
In adults, lead can increase blood pressure and cause fertility problems,
nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, irritability, and memory or
concentration problems. Adults require a significantly greater level of exposure
to lead to sustain adverse health effects, than children do. Most adults who are
lead poisoned get exposed to lead at work. Occupations related to house
painting, welding, renovation and remodeling activities, smelters, firing
ranges, the manufacture and disposal of car batteries, and the maintenance and
repair of bridges and water towers, are particularly at risk for lead exposure.
Workers in these occupations must also take care not to leave their work site
with potentially contaminated clothing, tools, and facial hair, or with unwashed
hands. Otherwise, they can spread the lead to their family vehicles and
ultimately to other family members.
When a pregnant woman has an elevated blood lead level, that lead can easily
be transferred to the fetus, as lead crosses the placenta. In fact, pregnancy
itself can cause lead to be released from the bone, where lead is stored — often
for decades — after it first enters the blood stream. (The same process can
occur with the onset of menopause.) Once the lead is released from the mother's
bones, it re-enters the blood stream and can end up in the fetus. In other
words, if a woman had been exposed to enough lead as a child for some of the
lead to have been stored in her bones, the mere fact of pregnancy can trigger
the release of that lead and can cause the fetus to be exposed. In such cases,
the baby is born with an elevated blood lead level.
Exposure to lead is estimated by measuring levels of lead in the blood (in
micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) has set a "level of concern" for children at 10 micrograms
per deciliter. At this level, it is generally accepted that adverse health
effects can begin to set in.
If your child or your family member has been exposed to lead or lead-based
products, or you have experienced
lead poisoning
symptoms, you may be eligible to file a claim against those who used
or provided lead based products. Know your legal rights. Contact the attorneys of Belluck & Fox LLP.
We will provide you with fast, personalized and professional legal
representation.
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