The memorandum of June 18th, 2010 did not change requirements that contractors take appropriate steps to keep families and children safe from the dangers of lead poisoning and associated recordkeeping requirements.  The memorandum only extended the time requirements to register and take the required training courses associated with the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule.

The EPA has posted training materials at:  www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/training.htm.

Renovation Firms have until October 1st, 2010 to be certified with the EPA.  All firms that are not certified by October 1st, 2010, will be subject to penalties for failing to comply with the renovation firm requirements of the RRP rule.

Individual Renovators have until September 30th, 2010 to enroll in a certified renovator class to train contractors in practices necessary for compliance with the final RRP rules.  Individual Renovators have until December 31st, 2010 to complete the required training courses.

Some basic information about the RRP Rule:
Homeowners, apartment owners, government-assisted or public housing, schools and childcare facilities that are older than 1978 that have a contractor disturb a painted surface do to renovation, repair or painting must have the contractor:
 A.  Assume the property contains lead-based paint and follow lead-safe work practices, or
 B.  You or your contractor may also test for lead using a lead test kit.  These kits must be EPA-approved, or
 C.  Hire a certified professional to check for lead-based paint.  These professionals are certified risk assessors or inspectors and can determine if your home has lead or lead hazards.

Essco Safety Check is professional lead-based firm (in Washington State) ready to help contractors, homeowners, childcare facility operators, schools and business with all their RRP lead inspection needs. 

Essco Safety Check has certified lead professionals who will come to your location and provide non-destructive X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) testing to inspect for lead-based paint.  We will help you save time & money with hassle-free lead inspection services and assist you with all your data storage and EPA testing compliance issues.

Contact Essco Safety Check at http://www.essco-safetycheck.com/services/re.htm for more information or call Seth at 425-749-4136

Additional information on lead-safe work practices can be found at www.epa.gov/lead or obtained from the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323)

Additional information on EPA RRP compliance can be found here: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf

Lead-Safe Certified Guide “Renovate Right” can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf

Know what is in your environment and mitigate harm!

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On April 22, 2010 the EPAs Renovation Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule went into effect to address lead dust hazards created during renovation of properties older than 1978, this rule only applies to painted surfaces.  Tile is not considered a painted surface, but tile can possess lead and other harmful heavy metals.  If tile is disturbed during renovation, dust can be created that can be potentially harmful. 

Renovators and contractors should be advised to use lead safe work practices if they disturb tile, unless they know what the tile is made of. 

Recently I purchased tile from Home Depot and decided to use an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyzer to look for heavy metals in the tile, I own and operate an environmental testing and software business, Essco Safety Check and am a certified HUD Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor.  Using an XRF analyzer I found lead and cadmium in brand new tiles sold today (June 2010).  One of the tiles showed lead over 3mg/cm2, the regulation limit for lead in paint within the RRP Rule is 1mg/cm2, the other showed cadmium over 600 parts per million, there is no regulation for cadmium in the RRP rule.

Tile found with lead and cadmium

In both cases (in the lead and cadmium tile) I suspect that the heavy metals are in the glaze or the coloring of the tile and not the ceramic.  According to the HUD Guidelines, Chapter 7, Lead-Based Paint is defined as;

Any paint, varnish, shellac, or other coating that contains lead equal to or in excess of 1.0mg/cm2 as measured by an x-ray fluorescence analyzer or laboratory analysis or 0.5 percent by weight by laboratory analysis.

Tile is not considered a painted surface and therefore does not meet the qualifications of lead-based paint, even though it is glazed or painted.

In May 2010 I was contacted by a colleague who is a certified lead inspector, EPA approved renovator and general contractor for 25 years.  While performing an inspection for RRP compliance, he used his XRF analyzer on some floor tile that he was going to replace.  The test results from the XRF analyzer showed lead over 5mg/cm2, he called me to ask what to do? 

My first question was would he disturb the tile during his renovation project, and if so, would dust be created?  He said yes.  I suggested that he use lead safe work practices, but he wanted to know the specifics of the law, so I contacted another colleague from the EPAs Region 10 to ask for help finding the specific regulation with the RRP rule and tile.  She searched on the EPAs website under the RRP FAQs and typed in “tile”, but not one response was found in the frequently asked questions page by the EPA.  What is a contractor suppose to do when they disturb tile?

The approved testing method for the average contractor who is not a lead inspector or risk assessor and who does not have access to an XRF analyzer or inspector with such an instrument is to use approved testing “swab” kits.  These kits will not penetrate tile like a drywall painted wall.  In a sample case with tile I purchased from Home Depot, I used an XRF analyzer on the tile and found lead over the 1.0mg/cm2 but when I tested it with the approved lead “swab” testing kits, no lead was found.  How is this protecting the homeowners, renovators or contractors working on their own renovation projects?  What if there are children that live at this work site?

As I have mentioned, the RRP Rule only applies to homes built before 1978, but I was able to find brand new tiles that have lead and cadmium.  To my knowledge and having several discussions with Washington State Officials and EPA personal, there is currently no regulation regarding heavy metals in tile.  Since tile purchased today can contain heavy metals like lead, it may be found in homes newer than 1978.

Homeowners, renovators and contractors need to be aware that tile purchased today, or tile found in homes (of any age) may contain harmful heavy metals.  If you disturb tile and create dust, you could be creating a potential hazard.  You should make sure you contain and clean up all dust created from disturbing tile.  This is only a cautionary warning; there is no regulatory authority behind this.  I wish only to share knowledge that I have obtained by operating my environmental testing and software business, Essco Safety Check.

Additionally, business owners and workers who disturb tile for installation in properties (i.e. bathroom and shower installation companies) should be aware of this and take precautions when doing preparation work and properly contain and cleanup any dust created.  Don’t forget to consider all OSHA regulations, if any lead is found on the property; during a renovation, remodeling or painting of any property.

I would advise using lead-safe work practices if you disturb tile and create any dust.  Or have your local certified lead inspector or risk assessor use their XRF analyzer to check if the tile you are about to disturb has any harmful heavy metals. 

Contact Bob Angeline Lead-Based Paint Assistant Manager at the Washington State Department of Commerce, at 360-725-2929 for questions about the RRP rule in Washington State or contact Seth Goldberg, Essco Safety Check at 425-749-4136 or info@essco-safetycheck.com if you have any questions or comments about this article.

Know what is in your environment and mitigate harm.

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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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Recently a report from the Iown Department of Public Health noted that there has been an increase in childhood lead poisoning do to home remodeling.

XRF Analyzers are non-destructive, handheld, scientific instruments for identification of elements, essentially a handheld mass spectrometer.  They are an approved source to determine if lead-based paint is present in a HUD property (government owned).

EPA Requirements 

Common renovation activities like sanding, cutting, and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips by disturbing lead-based paint, which can be harmful to adults and children.

To protect against this risk, on April 22, 2008, EPA issued a rule requiring the use of lead-safe practices and other actions aimed at preventing lead poisoning. Under the rule, beginning in April 2010, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

Until that time, EPA recommends that anyone performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in pre-1978 homes, child care facilities and schools follow lead-safe work practices.

All contractors should follow these three simple procedures:

Contain the work area.
Minimize dust.
Clean up thoroughly.

The RRP Rule is simply designed to assure that workers and homeowners are protected from the harmful effects of lead.  There is unfortunately one major flaw with this rule, Clearance! 

Clearance is done at the end of the job to make certain that the work site has been cleaned up properly.  A dust wipe is performed and this wipe is compared against a picture on a laminated card.  How is this testing for lead? 

What I think

In my opinion, when XRF Analyzers are combined with an appropriate data collection and analysis platform they can provide sufficient evidence and quantification for lead.  This mobile, non-destructive testing platform, that is capable of identify as little as 10 parts per million (PPM) of lead.  With a specific set of testing methods and our pending new quantification system, XRF can positively impact the EPA RRP Rule.

X-Ray Fluorescence can create jobs, help contractors comply with regulation, help homeowners be safe from lead and other potential harmful toxicants. Contractors can move from site to site (job to job) quicker.  Their testing costs can be lowered and testing information instant.  This all can produce economic and social benefits.

I believe there are many other opportunities for X-Ray Fluorescence to positively impact society, create jobs and improve lives.

We started this company (in 2007) to help share information with parents, concerned individuals and businesses by helping them identify potentially harmful consumer products with the use of laboratory-grade, handheld, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzers.  Our goal is to provide quality elemental information, fast and efficiently all while being cost effective and scientifically accurate.  With this knowledge, people and businesses can make educated decisions as to what they are exposed to or the products they are selling.

What we do is work directly with the consumer in one-on-one in-home inspections or in larger group settings such as toy testing parties and community events; we can test toys, ceramics, jewelry, virtually any consumer product (non-destructively).   We can work with retailers and businesses to test products; and, we can work in industrial settings, manufactures, ports of call and on the proactive side to maintain machines to ensure when parts need replacing prior to them failing.

Our testing is not done in the laboratory, each location becomes our laboratory. Essco -Safety Check uses XRF Analyzers, along with sophisticated proprietary software, photography and meta-data collection to provide elemental information and report generation capabilities of virtually anything.  Essentially, we simply select our item to be tested and point and click with our analyzer.  We let the analyzer do its job and then we provide this information in an easy to use format, digitally to the end user. 

We are a family who simply wishes to help people and businesses understand their environment and help to reduce potential toxic exposure with the use of technology and information.  If you are an informed consumer, you can make the educated decisions in your life as to what your child plays with, what you and your family eat off of, what you wear as jewelry or interact with on a daily basis.  We hope to work more with manufactures rather than the end consumer, helping to reduce the amount of toxic items that reach the shelves.

We have become environmental epidemiologists and forensic elemental specialists!