New EPA RRP law impacting two-thirds of US homes that no one has heard about
New law impacting two-thirds of US homes that not many have heard about
The United States Environmental Protection Agency Lead Renovation Repair and Painting (RRP) law governing the renovation of lead painted homes and buildings goes into effect April 22, 2010
Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Local remodel and repair business, Handyman Solutions gets ready to help customers deal with the new EPA laws that go into effect on April 22, 2010. Starting on that date only contractors that have earned an EPA certification may perform work on homes built prior to 1978 that disturbs painted surfaces. Homeowners face added costs to their projects and contractors not in compliance face major fines. Complete information on the RRP law can be found at http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm.
Handyman Solution’s company owner, Chuck Solomon received his training back in October and is now an EPA Certified Lead Renovator. He has been spreading the word to customers and other contractors wherever he goes. “I have found very few contractors or homeowners that are aware of the new law” said Solomon. “Lead is a serious health hazard that we all should be aware of” he added. Handyman Solutions (www.CarolinaHandyman.com) provides renovation, repair, painting, and handyman services throughout the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill).
Lead is a health hazard to both children and adults. Lead poisoning is a serious health condition that can cause serious effects on the brain, nervous system, reproduction, cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal, renal, and blood. It is especially serious with pregnant women and small children impacting both their physical and mental development. Since symptoms can be non-specific and attributed to other ailments. Lead poisoning can be sometimes be difficult to diagnose or be mis-diagnosed by health care professionals. Common lead poisoning symptoms include: headache, stomachache, irritability, fatigue, lack of appetite, pain in the muscles and or joints.
A blood lead level test is the only way to tell if lead poisoning has occurred. The amount of lead that can poison a child or adult is measured in a micrograms. A microgram is one millionth of a gram. To give some perspective, a packet of sugar is approximately one gram. Slice up the packet of sugar into a million parts, and that is microgram. So it only takes a minute amount ingested or inhaled to be lead poisoned.
Lead was used as a paint additive until it was banned in the United States in 1978. There are 130 million households in the US and 64% of them were built before 1979. That’s over 80 million homes that may contain lead painted surfaces. With two-thirds of the houses possibly containing lead paint, this is a serious concern. During some home maintenance and certainly during home remodeling and renovation projects lead painted surfaces may get disturbed. This creates lead containing dust and it is the lead dust that if not contained and handled properly can lead to health problems if ingested or inhaled. That can lead to lead poisoning to both construction workers and with the properties inhabitants.
Additional resources:
- Media kit from the EPA on lead hazards – www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/mediakit.pdf
- Brochure required by law to be given to property owners and inhabitants of pre-1978 houses before renovation work commences - www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf.
- Information from the EPA on the RRP rule - www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
- Lead poisoning article from the NIH – www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002473.htm
- Information on lead from CDC - www.cdc.gov/lead
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Contact information:
Chuck Solomon, info@carolinahandyman.com 919-696-6710