Lead-Based Paint
Know the Symptoms of Lead Poisoning
Lead has been an important metal used for thousands of years in many different products. However, it was not until the 20th century that the threat of lead poisoning was fully understood. By the 1970s, lead was banned from most products, especially paints, and many considered the issue to have been successfully addressed.
However, recent discoveries in states like California have shown lead remains in the water supply and still poses a threat. Even today, it is still important to be able ...
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Potential Lead Poisoning in California Drinking Water
It started in a San Diego grade school when a therapy dog refused to drink the water. The water was tested and found to have polyvinyl chloride, a polymer used in PVC pipes that degrades over time. However, the testing also revealed something the dog did not smell, the presence of lead.
The elevated levels of lead in the drinking water were not only present in that school, but in other schools in the Southern California area, including Los Angeles. Lead is ...
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What You Need to Know About Lead Paint
This article is part of our new “Need to Know” series. Stay tuned for more articles explaining the basics of environmental dangers and remediation throughout the coming months!
Lead is a metal pigment that was used in paints for many decades thanks to its long-lasting properties. However, it was discovered in the early 1970s that lead is a neurotoxin that may cause brain damage when consumed or breathed in by people and pets. In 1978, lead paint was banned in the US, but before that year it ...
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Recent Lead Poisoning in California
Despite a nationwide effort to remove lead contamination from buildings and residences, children in the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles are still being diagnosed with lead poisoning. With the focus of lead removal efforts being in the Rust Belt and along the East Coast, it seems that California was overlooked.
Lead used to be commonly found in paints, gasoline, and plumbing. It took several studies to confirm that lead poisoning in children caused a considerable and irreversible impact on their health, ...
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Know the Symptoms of Lead Poisoning
Before 1978, particularly in the 1950s, lead was a common ingredient found in house paint. Homes painted with lead-based paint pose a constant threat even today, as painted surfaces break down over time, releasing lead dust that can be breathed in by children. Windows, doors, steps and porches are key zones where lead dust can be released.
Lead-based paint can similarly contaminate the soil around homes, a consequence of chipping paint and renovation activity. People can track this soil into homes where ...
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Lead Contamination Near L.A. County Battery Recycling Plant
In March of last year, a L.A. County battery recycling plant that had long emitted dangerous pollutants was closed. Before the Exide Technologies plant shut down, as many as 10,000 homes were contaminated with poisonous lead. The California Department of Toxic Substance has done a survey of 1,000 properties in the surrounding neighborhoods and found that all contained lead contamination in varying degrees.
Children suffer the most from toxic lead contamination. Analysis by the state Department of Health revealed that 3.58% of ...
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7 Unexpected Sources of Lead Exposure
The serious water crisis in Flint Michigan, still ongoing, has brought the issue of lead contamination back into the public spotlight. Most people assumed they were safe from lead exposure, but this crisis has highlighted the reality that lead could be lurking in our own homes and we wouldn’t even know it. Here are seven places lead might be hiding:
1. In the soil – Lead seeps into soil from a number of different sources, including from lead-based paint, from ground water, ...
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Are You Doing a DIY Project? Here’s How to Avoid Dangerous Substances and Fumes
Most people tackle do-it-yourself projects without thinking twice about whether or not there might be dangerous substances lurking in their home or used for that project. The truth is that even a simple DIY project like painting a room can lead you to encounter toxic, potentially hazardous materials. Here are a few tips for avoiding those fumes and substances as you do those DIY projects:
If you are opening up a wall or ceiling, get help. While your goal is to the ...
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How We Can Minimize Lead Exposure
The Flint, Michigan water crisis has only made the necessity of clean drinking water more obvious. While there are some places in the world that have very well-protected sources of water, contamination can happen not just in the pipes or in the water treatment plant, but in the home, too. Homes that have metal taps, especially older taps, might find that they are dousing their water with lead. Individual plumbing systems are the biggest offenders of lead contamination.
What is lead and ...
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How to Test for Lead in Your Home Water Supply
The recent Flint, Michigan water crisis might lead you to wonder if your home’s water supply contains lead. According to the EPA, up to 20% of all lead exposures comes from water that is exposed to lead. If there are babies in a house, they can get up to 60% of their total lead exposure just from drinking formula that is made with lead-contaminated water.
Once it enters a person’s system, lead stays for a long time, collecting in the blood stream ...
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