Beginning April 22nd, 2010 a new federal law (Renovation, Repair, and Painting – RRP) established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will require any contractor that disturbs lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities or schools, built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.
You, as a homeowner, child care facility operator, school administrator or a contractor, need to ask a few questions to see if the new rules will apply.
Are you going to do any remodeling, repair or painting on a property (home, child care facility or school) that was built before 1978? If so, the contractor performing the work must be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.
Common remodeling, repair or painting activities such as sanding, cutting and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips by disturbing lead-based paint. Lead is most commonly ingested by dust, but can also be found in soil, your water or household items (toys, ceramics, jewelry, etc)
Lead is a harmful toxicant that can be especially dangerous to children under six. It can affect the central nervous system and affect the development of children’s brains. It can reduce IQ scores and cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
According to the EPA 24% of homes that are built from 1960 – 1978 contain lead based paint, 69 % of homes built from 1940 – 1960 contain lead-based paint and 87% of homes built before 1940 contain lead-based paint. The EPA estimates that 37.8 million pre-1978 housing units and child-occupied facilities are still in use today.
If you are going to do or have any remodeling, repair of painting on a pre-1978 property than you have a few options.
1.) You can assume that your home, child care facility, or school contains lead and thus follow lead safe work practices.
2.) You or your contractor can test for lead using an EPA-approved testing kit, typically available at hardware stores.
3.) You can hire a certified professional (certified lead inspector or risk assessor) to determine if your property has lead or lead hazards.
Regardless of the age of the home, contractors should; contain the work area, minimize dust and cleanup thoroughly. The RRP Rule is simply designed to assure that workers, homeowners and children are protected from the harmful effects of lead.
There are some exclusions and an opt-out provision to the RRP Rule, they include:
1.) Renovations that affect only components that have been determined to be free of lead-based paint.
2.) Activities that disturbs fewer than 6 square feet interior or 20 square feet exterior. This excludes window replacement, demolition and projects involving prohibited practices
3.) Work done by individuals in housing they own and occupy.
The Opt-out provision is:
1.) Homeowners may opt out of the rule requirements if:
a.) They occupy the housing to be renovated,
b.) The housing is not a child-occupied facility, and
c.) No child under age 6 or pregnant woman resides there
Homeowners may still request lead-safe work practices and I would highly urge all contractors to use lead-safe work practices.
As a certified Lead Inspector, an owner of an environmental company (Essco Safety Check) and a person with extensive knowledge about the personal environment, there are a few other things that you should know to help protect you, your family, your tenants, children and workers.
The current approved method to test for lead by a contractor is to use an EPA Approved Lead testing kit and there must be a written determination by a certified renovator using a lead test kit.
Acceptable test kits will have to meet the following criteria:
1.) Phase 1: Be capable of determining the presence of lead at levels >/= 1.0 mg/cm2 or > 0.5% by weight; and should have no more than 5% false negative results.
2.) Phase 2: Criteria above; and should have no more than 10% false positive results.
For a list of approved testing kits, click here.
OR
Have a certified inspector or risk assessor provide a written determination that lead-based paint is present of not present.
As a certified lead inspector and risk assessor, my choice of testing equipment is X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyzers. They are a portable, handheld, non-destructive testing source to determine if lead and other harmful elements are present or not present.
XRF analyzers can provide a much greater degree of accuracy to determine lead; with our analyzers we can determine if there is as little as 10ppm and review each test spectrum to ensure that lead is present or not present.
The costs for testing using XRF are slightly more than the approved testing kits; however, you receive much more valuable information about your environment.
Here is the scenario;
You hire a contractor who is certified, but they use the approved testing kits and determine that there is not lead over the “limit standard” of 5000ppm. Because of this, the contractor gets right to work and does his job, but wants to save time and money and doesn’t use “lead safe work practices” because he has determined lead is not at the action level.
BOOM the wall is cut, dust is flying, and a day or two later your remodel is done.
I’m going to step back a second and talk regulations of lead paint standards.
In 1978, lead paint standards were adopted and the maximum allowable amount of lead in paint was 600ppm.
2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed and began regulating the amount of lead in children’s products.
2009 under the CPSIA the maximum allowable amount of lead on a painted surface for a children’s product is 90ppm.
2010 90ppm is the maximum allowable amount of lead to be sold in paint for consumers (there are some exemptions)
2010 the current amount of allowable lead in an area to be remodeled, 4999ppm.
Now back to our scenario;
Your contractor has determined, using an approved testing kit that there is less than 5000ppm of lead in the area to be remodeled. But is lead really there? If so, how much lead is really there? Are there any other potentially harmful elements such as cadmium or mercury?
It is possible for there to be almost 5000ppm of lead, which is currently 4910ppm more than is permitted today and ok to not use lead safe work practices.
XRF gives a much greater detailed image of what is present or not present. Using X-Rays the analyzer will determine if lead is present on older, deeper paint surfaces. With this knowledge you can help protect your family, children and the workers performing the remodel.
I see an opportunity where regulation can spur job creation, which ultimately benefits the health and wellbeing of children, homeowners and contractors.
What do you think of the RRP Rule?
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