Spring is here and people are beginning home projects. If you are renovating, repairing or painting here is some important information provided by the EPA to help keep you and your family safe. Here are excerpts from an EPA pamphlet titled
"The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right "
• Is your home, your building, or the child care facility or school your children attend being renovated, repaired, or painted?
• Was your home, your building, or the child care facility or school where your children under six years of age attend built before 1978?
If the answer to these questions is YES, there are a few important things you need to know about lead-based paint.
The Facts
Lead can affect children’s brains and developing nervous systems, causing reduced IQ, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. Lead is also harmful to adults.
• Lead in dust is the most common way people are exposed to lead. People can also get lead in their bodies from lead in soil or paint chips. Lead dust is often invisible.
• Lead-based paint was used in more than 38 million homes until it was banned for residential use in 1978.
• Projects that disturb painted surfaces can create dust and endanger you and your family. Don’t let this happen to you. Follow the practices described in this pamphlet to protect you and your family.
For Property Owners
You have the ultimate responsibility for the safety of your family, tenants, or children in your care. This means properly preparing for the renovation and keeping persons out of the work area (see p. 8). It also means ensuring the contractor uses lead-safe work practices.
Federal law requires that contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb painted surfaces in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.
Make sure your contractor is certified, and can explain clearly the details of the job and how the contractor will minimize lead hazards during the work.
• You can verify that a contractor is certified by checking EPA’s website at epa.gov/getleadsafe or by calling the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEA D (5323). You can also ask to see a copy of the contractor’s firm certification.
• Ask if the contractor is trained to perform lead-safe work practices and to see a copy of their training certificate.
• Ask them what lead-safe methods they will use to set up and perform the job in your home, child care facility or school.
• Ask for references from at least three recent jobs involving homes built before 1978, and speak to each personally. Always make sure the contract is clear about how the work will be set up, performed, and cleaned.
• Share the results of any previous lead tests with the contractor.
• You should specify in the contract that they follow the work practices described on pages 9 and 10 of this brochure.
• The contract should specify which parts of your home are part of the work area and specify which lead-safe work practices will be used in those areas. Remember, your
contractor should confine dust and debris to the work area and should minimize spreading that dust to other areas of the home.
• The contract should also specify that the contractor will clean the work area, verify that it was cleaned adequately, and re-clean it if necessary.
If you think a worker is not doing what he is supposed to do or is doing something that is unsafe, you should:
• Direct the contractor to comply with regulatory and contract requirements.
• Call your local health or building department, or
• Call EPA's hotline 1-800-424-LEAD (5323). If your property receives housing assistance from HUD (or a state or local agency that
This pamphlet provides basic facts about lead and information about lead safety when work is being done in your home, your building or the child care facility or school your children attend.
To access complete pamphlet click: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf