Lead Abatement / Encapsulation

       

Lead Abatement Information-Lead Based Paint Encapsulation/Encasement

Lead-Based Paint Abatement by Encapsulation/Encasement is a proven method of Lead-Based Paint Abatement. Information about the hazards of Lead Based Paint is well known and any house or building built before 1978 may have Lead-Based Paint that needs abatement by Encasement/Encapsulation.  The LeadLock™ Encasement System offers protection from the hazards associated with exposure to lead dust and lead based paint chips.  With removal of Lead-Based Paint not always feasible from a physical or economic standpoint, Lead Abatement by Encasement/Encapsulation is becoming a widely accepted and trusted technique for the abatement of Lead Based Paint.

LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Existing Buildings) The use of GLOBAL Encasement, Inc.'s super compliant architectural renewable/sustainable green coatings solutions can help building owners to achieve LEED-EB Certification.

Management of lead based paint can be accomplished by one or a combination of three different methods: (Note: The first two methods are known as In Place Management of Lead-Based Paint.)

Lead-Based Paint Abatement Method 1 Encasement/Encapsulation: This method involves the encapsulation/encasement of the lead based paint with a fluid applied coating or coatings system that dries and cures like a regular paint yet does not allow the lead in the original paint layer to migrate to the surface coating and cause a reintroduction of the original lead based paint hazard into the environment as the new coating deteriorates.

Lead-Based Paint Abatement Method 2 Enclosure:  This method involves the enclosure of the lead based painted surface by Gypsum wall board or another material that stops lead dust and chips from being intruduced into the environment.

Lead-Based Paint Abatement Method 3 Removal/Replacement:  This Method involves removal/replacement of the lead based paint or the building component coated with lead based paint with a new building component and/or a non-lead containing coating.  When removing lead based paint make sure to contain the area and use techniques involving wet scraping or the use of a product that allows for the wet removal of the lead based paint to limit the generation of hazardous lead containing dust.  The removal and disposal of lead based paint proves the most costly of these three methods and is only recommended in limited areas like door or window jams where it may be necessary to preserve a building component for historical preservation purposes.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Lead Based Paint (LBP) Guide

Lead-Based Paint Encasement/Encapsulation Systems

GLOBAL Encasement, Inc.'s Lead-Based Paint Encasement/Encapsulation Systems can stand alone as your choosen lead abatement method or can be used along with the other two lead-based paint abatement method options to provide long lasting, economical and environmentally sound protection against the hazards and dangers of exposure to lead dust and lead-based paint chips that are associated with aging and deteriorating lead-based paint.  LeadLock™ TopCoat can be used alone over intact lead-based painted surfaces or a combination of LeadLock™ TopCoat and PrepLESS Primer™ can both stablize deteriorating lead-based paint and seal the lead based paint behind a durable membrane that returns proven and measurable results for the in place management of lead-based paint through Encasement/Encapsulation.

Historical Uses, Health Effects and Common Exposure Routes for Lead

Use of Lead in Ancient Times

Lead has been used by humans since the dawn of civilization because of its availability, ease of extraction and ease of use. It is a soft and highly malleable, heavy and toxic metal and is easy to smelt.  There is evidence of its use in the early Bronze Age where it was used with antimony and arsenic, as well as being mentioned in the Book of Exodus. Ancient alchemists thought that lead was the oldest metal and associated it with the planet Saturn.

Lead is a chemical element on the periodic table symbolized as Pb, an abbreviation of its Latin name plumbum, the same Latin root of the English word "plumbing".

Evidence of lead used as a component of paints dates back to the ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Civilizations.

Prior to 1940, lead was in just about all paints and many Federal and State Government agencies recommended and specified its use.  The U.S. National Bureau of Standards, Interior Department, and Forest Service stated in the 1930 and 40’s that lead pigments were the most important of white pigments and that lead-based paint was the very best choice for homeowners because it allowed for longer intervals between repaints.

Use of Lead In Paint in Modern Times

During the first half of the 1900’s, lead-based paint was widely acknowledged as the best paint in production due to its durable and washable surface from which germs could be removed easily.

In fact, from the 1920’s through the 1940’s the US Federal Government was one of the foremost proponents of the use of lead-based paint. Based on the recommendations of former government paint experts, President Franklin Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration had specified the use of lead-based paint for the interior use of fifty or more public housing projects because of its durability.

Despite mounting evidence of the effects of its use, lead was still used in paints in the United States until the danger became too widely known to be ignored.  It was banned in 1978 and paint manufacturers replaced lead with other ingredients, such as barium sulfate and titanium dioxide.  When regulations limiting the allowable amounts of lead in paint were implemented in 1978, the use of lead oxide had all but stopped.

Adverse Health Effects of Lead Poisoning Caused by Exposure to Lead

Lead is a natural element that does not break down in the environment.  Once lead has been dispersed and re-deposited into the environment, it remains there with the potential to poison unsuspecting humans and animals for generations to come unless it is controlled or removed.

Lead can damage nerve connections in young children and adults alike, and cause blood and brain disorders. Long term exposure to lead or its salts can cause:

• Nephropathy
• Nausea
• Insomnia
• Lethargy
• Hyperactivity
• Abdominal pains
• Irritability
• Reduced IQ
• In severe cases seizure, coma and death

How Lead Enters the Body (Humans and Animals)

Lead poisoning occurs when lead enters the body via tainted water, eating tainted soil, eating paint chips containing lead, and breathing or swallowing lead dust. Children tend to obtain lead poisoning from eating paint chips, from putting their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths and by inhaling lead dust, especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces where household dust can pick up lead from deteriorating lead-based paint.  Among the methods of poisoning, lead-dust is among the greatest threat due to its subtle method of ingestion. During renovations lead dust can form when lead-based paint is dry scraped, dry sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub against. Lead chips and lead dust can get on surfaces and objects we interact with daily. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air when we vacuum, sweep or walk through it.

Young Children and Pregnant Women are at Greater Risk

Children with low blood lead levels may not exhibit symptoms of poisoning, yet even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.  In an average adult, 10-15 percent of lead that reaches the digestive tract is absorbed.  Young children and pregnant women, absorb as much as 50% more lead than the average adult due to the body’s inability to distinguish it, periods of stress and the body’s growth demands.

As a result, lead exposure is very harmful to young children and babies even before they are born. Children’s bodies absorb more lead, and their brains and nervous systems are more susceptible to its damaging effects. If not detected early, children with high blood lead levels can suffer from:

• Damage to the brain and nervous system
• Behavior and learning problems (such as hyperactivity)
• Slowed growth
• Hearing problems
• Headaches
• Death

Adults with high blood lead levels can suffer from:

• Difficulties during pregnancy
• Other reproductive problems (in both men and women)
• High blood pressure
• Digestive problems
• Nerve disorders
• Memory and concentration problems
• Muscle and joint pain

For homes and Buildings Built Before 1978, Assume it Contains Lead-Based Paint

As a rule of thumb, the older your home, the more likely it contains lead-based paint. Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint and while the US federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in homes in 1978, it can still be found in urban, suburban and city homes across the country.  Whether apartment building or single-family homes, private or public housing, interior or exterior, deteriorated lead-based paint poses a serious health risk for its occupants, especially children and pregnant women.

Lead-Based Paint Abatement and How to Minimize the Risk of Lead Poisoning

Lead Abatement is intended to lessen and reduce the health risk associated with lead-based paint and involves the encasement of the substrate with approved encapsulating coatings, enclosure of the hazard with hard barriers, or removing the hazard. Removal can include either the removal of the lead-paint substrate or removal of just the lead-based paint itself. Removal however, is generally reserved for limited areas and for surfaces where historic preservation requirements may apply.  Paint removal techniques demand high levels of control and worker protection and tend to generate significant amounts of hazardous waste which require special transportation, management and maintenance.

To protect families from lead exposure due to paint, dust and soil, in 1992 congress passed the Residential Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, also known as Title X. Four years later on March 6, 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule, “Lead; Requirements for Disclosure of Known LBP Hazards in Housing” which requires the disclosure of known information on lead based paint and lead based paint hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978.

U.S. Children Still at Risk of Lead Poisoning

It is currently estimated that 890,000 roughly 4.4% of the preschool age children in the United States have a blood lead level of 10ug/dl or higher. In northeastern cities more than 35% of the preschool children have blood lead levels that exceed10ug/dl from exposure to residential lead hazards.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental disease facing children in the United States. Of the 20 million children in the United States, almost 9 percent have blood lead levels at or above the “level of concern” established by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  This epidemic of lead poisoning is more widespread than any other preventable childhood disease.

The ingestion of lead dust contaminated surfaces is the most common pathway of childhood lead poisoning. Due to its small particle size, lead dust tends not be visible to the naked eye and is difficult to clean and avoid. Lead dust gets on children’s hands, toys and on other surfaces and then enters their bodies through normal hand to mouth activities and breathing.

Lead based paint is the most common source of lead exposure for pre-school children and the primary source of lead exposure is fine particles of lead-laden dust in the home. Many houses and apartment built before 1978 have paint that contains lead and peeling lead paint chips pose a serious health hazards if not properly managed.

Lead-Based Paint must be abated and removing it is the most complicated and costly abatement method, consisting of complex containment during the removal process and then the transportation and storage of the hazardous material.

The quickest, most practical, economical way to abate Lead-Based Paint is to encase it with a LeadLock™ Encasement System.  LeadLock™ TopCoat is a non-toxic, zero VOC approved lead encapsulant coating that will manage lead-based paint in place.  LeadLock™ TopCoat can be used alone or together with PrepLESS Primer™ to form a LeadLock ™  Encasement System for the in place management and abatement of lead-based paint hazards.

LeadLock™ GREEN Features and Benefits:

• Non-Toxic, Zero VOCs, Renewable and Sustainable
• Waterproof, Durable, Breathable, Highly Chemical & Impact Resistance
• Clean Up is with Water
• Class “A” Fire Rated, NO Ozone Depleting Substances,
• No Generation of Hazardous Waste.
• Encasement is a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US HUD Accepted abatement method
• Passed UPITT Test for Combustion Product Toxicity
• Accepted for use by the City of New York, Department of Buildings, MEA #309-94-M
• New York City Vendor #0002085630-1
• Complies with State of New York-Uniform Building Code #1120-15
• Registered with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control
• ASTM E-1795 – Standard specification for Non-Reinforced Liquid Coating Encapsulation Products for Leaded Paint in Buildings, Type III: Either Exterior or Interior Use: All products (LeadLock™ AsbestoSafe® Your Last Coat™ and RoofCoat™ were tested and conform to all of the requirements of ASTM E-1795.)
• Approved for interior and exterior use by all United States Departments of Health
• Passed Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health Encapsulation Product Performance Protocol

LeadLock™ Product Description

LeadLock™ is a high performance, water-based, acrylic, non-toxic, zero VOC super compliant architectural green coating that is tough, abuse-, rust-, mildew-, fire- and chemical-resistant and forms a waterproofing membrane.  Its moisture vapor transmission qualities make it perfect for historic preservation and can be custom tinted almost any color.  It can be applied over PrepLESS Primer™ to form a GLOBAL Encasement, Inc. System.

LeadLock™ TopCoat is an approved Lead Encapsulant for use in all 50 states, US Territories and Worldwide. It is fully tested in accordance with ASTM E-1795-97, the Standard for Liquid Coating Encapsulation Products for Leaded Paint in Buildings.

• Class A Fire Rated
• Extremely tough, durable and flexible
• Mildew and mold resistant
• Can be custom tinted almost any color
• Waterproof
• Flexible
• Zero V.O.C.s (Volatile Organic Content)

LeadLock™ Technical Data and Properties

Lead-Based Paint Encasement Vs. Removal and Replacement

Lead based paint encasement is a viable option vs. removal and replacement.  Encasement is an alternative form of abatement of the lead based paint when full removal and replacement is not always feasable from either a physical or economic standpoint.  GLOBAL Encasement's LeadLock™ Encasement System is fully tested and proven to be a tough and durable membrane system that resists the effects of weathering.  It protects building surfaces as well as protecting building occupants from the dangers of lead based paint.

Cost Comparison - Lead-Based Paint Remediation Options

Site Description: 1 Family House, 2,000 square feet of exterior walls with peeling, flaking, Lead-Based Paint, Clapboard Siding

Example I – Enclosure (Vinyl Siding)

♦ GLOBAL Encasement, Inc. does not recommend using vinyl siding alone as a form of Lead-Based Paint abatement. The Lead-Based Paint must first be locked in place to prevent further peeling of the loose paint from the substrate. (Ref. HUD Guidelines Appendix 7.2-1f.)

Example II – Full Lead-Based Paint Removal and repainting

Example III – GLOBAL Encasement, LeadLock™ System

Comparative Cost Analysis of Lead/Asbestos Abatement Methods

The following analysis assumes abatement of lead or asbestos for an average two-bedroom apartment with an affected surface area of 1,200 square feet. The study presents only the “hard” costs for the project and does not attempt to calculate the “indirect” costs, which depending on the project’s condition could prove substantial. Some of these “indirect” costs appear below, at the end of the analysis, and are assigned an “A” for “Applicable” or “NA” for “Non Applicable” for each of the abatement procedures.

The term "Lead-Based Paint Abatement" is often thought to mean the removal of lead-based paint when in fact the term abatement means a lessening of the dangers and hazards associated with exposure to lead and deteriorating lead-based paint.  Encasement/Encapsulation is a method of abatement.

To learn more about the EPA's Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP Rule) training program, please visit this link: http://leadsaferestoration.com/lead-safe-classes/

The Ultimate Guide To Renovating Your House https://organizedworktips.com/ultimate-guide-to-renovating-your-house/