For almost three years, Essco Safety Check has been providing X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) services to help people and businesses know what is in their environment. We started to help moms and dads know if their children’s toys had any harmful levels of lead or other potentially harmful heavy metals and have been involved in several national recalls for lead and cadmium in children’s products.
We have expanded services to include certified home and property lead inspections, risk assessments, HUD inspections and Renovation, Repair & Painting (RRP) Inspections.
We have provided services to toy wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers. We have done testing for county health departments, state and federal agencies. We have helped real estate professionals sell homes, and assisted remodelers, home inspectors and other housing professionals. We work with families of autistic children and can help anyone or any business know what is in their environment.
Recently, I was out performing an in-home inspection and found lead in wall paper. This was a new experience for me and after further testing, I was able to identify that the back side of the wall paper was made of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). The lead and other heavy metals found when testing the wall paper was most likely from the PVC and the back side of the wallpaper not the painted surface.
Contractors, remodelers and homeowners should be aware that there is a potential for lead to exist in wallpaper. Older homes that contain wallpaper with a PVC or film backing should be aware that lead and other heavy metals may be present. Creating dusts from this substrate could be potentially harmful.
In addition, contractors should be aware that tile may contain harmful levels of certain heavy metals including lead. If you are doing remodeling, renovation or painting that disturbs a painted surface or tile, use caution and be aware that the dust you create could be potentially harmful to you, your workers and the people or children in the home.
Other interesting finds and subjects of upcoming or past blogs include lead and other heavy metals found in:
Bounce Homes
Protein Drinks
Field Turf
Bumbo Seats
Facial Creams and other personal care items
Know what is in your environment!
