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Safety Let me introduce the air you breathe!
Over the next few months, I am planning to cover a series of topics related to indoor air quality. This is especially important since winter in Illinois means you will spend most of your time indoors. There already have been people killed in the United States this fall and winter due to poor indoor air quality. Legionnaires' disease and carbon monoxide imposed their immediate death sentences as early as November. Other indoor air contaminants offer longer lasting problems. One of these is lead. Yes, lead is still a problem. The reason? There are still a large number of homes available that were built before 1978. That was the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of lead-based paint in housing. Why would I include lead as an indoor air quality problem? Because many of you now are remodeling these older homes. Your actions could be causing lead dust to be released from old paint and carried throughout your house by your ventilation system to be breathed and ingested by you and your children. Simply sanding surfaces that were once coated with lead paint could release toxic dust into your home.
While the problems associated with ingestion of lead are relatively low for adults, the consequences to children are severe and long term. They include learning disabilities, decreased growth, and even brain damage. These effects are due to the tendency of lead to replace calcium and iron in your child's growing body. The federal government responded to indoor lead problems by requiring the removal of lead in paint and gasoline in the 1970s. They acted further in 1992 by passing a law that requires notification of the hazards associated with lead-based paint before any house built before 1978 can be sold. Most of you probably never have heard of this requirement even if you bought an older house since 1992. That is because the law did not go into effect until Dec. 6 (just last month). This notification is required for houses built before 1978 whether or not there is a confirmed lead problem in a home if you wish to sell or rent. Only housing that has no bedrooms, is leased for fewer than 100 days, or is inspected by a certified inspector and found to be free of lead-based paint is exempt. If the requirements are confusing, I have a brochure that provides common questions and answers for those selling or buying older homes. If you write and request it, I also will send you ordering information for other indoor air quality publications. You also should remember that there are newer homes that were built in areas with high potential for environmental lead and with lead plumbing fixtures that can cause the same problems in children. Use caution any time you create dust in your home. Ventilation and removal of dust by wet washing can prevent poisoning. Children should be taught to wash their hands prior to eating whenever they are playing in soil or household dust. Lead tests for water and dishware are available. In addition to removing lead from your environment, you can help your child resist the consequences of lead poisoning through proper nutrition. Foods high in iron and calcium can limit the uptake of lead by the digestive system and limit its effects on a child's development. Additional information can be requested from the National Lead Information Clearinghouse by calling: 800-424-LEAD.
Bill Campbell is an Extension Educator, Farm Systems, at the Springfield Extension Center, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois. You can write to Campbell in care of Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708. Telephone: 217-782-6515
14 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JANUARY 1997 |
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