The paint containing lead is known as lead-paint. Lead is generally added to paint to increase durability, make drying faster, make its fresh appearance last longer, and resist moisture to stop corrosion.
No doubt the paint quality gets enhanced because of the presence of lead; but lead is a very harmful substance. Lead-containing paint is a primary source of lead-poisoning which affects both children and adults. Mental dysfunction and irreversible brain damage may be caused by lead-poisoning. Even with very low level of exposure, it can retard foetal growth. In adults, lead-poisoning causes various health problems like irritability, high blood pressure, defects in reproduction, lack of muscle coordination and certain heart and lung diseases. It’s easy to verify, through some testing methods, whether lead is present in your paint or if there is any health hazard in your house arising out of lead paint. While doing renovation and repainting without taking care of proper safety measures, there is a chance of people getting lead-poisoned.
For preventing lead-poisoning, first and foremost thing to do is to determine if the house or the household contains any lead-based items. All suspected surfaces and dishware should be checked and tested. There are mainly 3 different approaches available for lead testing, viz., lead-based paint inspection, lead hazard screen, and risk assessment.
In today’s market, many DIY home test kits for testing lead in paint are available. But officially these kits and products have not yet been evaluated and approved by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. These test kits help in detecting lead in paint, dust, soil, water, dishware, glasses, windows, floors, ceilings, walls and ceramics. The DIY test kits are quite user-friendly and can be used to know easily and accurately information about lead contamination. The professional lead test kit normally contains some non-toxic paper strips which are chemically impregnated. When these paper strips come in contact with water, they get activated and can detect up to 5 ppm of lead on a surface. The test strips are normally white in color, but they have the quality of turning instantly to red when they detect lead on a surface after getting activated with water.
In case you happen to discover lead-based paint present in your house, it is advisable not to try to remove the paint yourself. It is advised to consult the local health department first and find out a lead-paint-removing expert. Many experts having specialized training for covering, replacing and removing lead-paint are available. The state medical department and the government release notices and organize public awareness campaigns about removing lead paint from time to time.
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