If your home was built before 1978
, it may contain lead paint. Homes built before 1950 have the most lead paint. Lead paint was most often used on windows, trim, porches and outside walls. Paint repair and remodeling projects that involve old paint can create severe lead dust hazards. Protect your family – whether you do the work yourself or hire a painter or contractor.
1. Seal Off the Area
Keep children and pregnant women out of the room.
Remove as much furniture as you can from the room. Cover remaining furniture with heavy plastic sheets.
Cover the work area floor with heavy plastic.
Be careful not to track dust out of the area.
Do not eat, drink or smoke while working.
2. Avoid Dust, Chips or Fumes
Mist paint before you scrape or sand. Water helps keep lead dust from the air.
Don’t sand blast or power wash. This makes clouds of lead dust.
Power sanders or grinders should have HEPA filters and hoods to trap dust.
Do not use open flames or heat guns above 1100° F.
Do not use paint strippers with methylene chloride.
3. Keep the Area Clean
Place trash in heavy plastic bags.
Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to clean up dust and debris.
Scrub floors and walls with soap and water. Rinse well with clean water.
Never burn trash with lead in it.
Conduct a dust test to be sure the area is safe for children or pregnant women.
4. Keep Dust Off Yourself
Be careful not to track lead dust around your home.
Change work clothes and shoes right after you leave the work area.
Wash work clothes separately from your family’s laundry.
Shower and wash your hair as soon as possible.
The Alliance is a national public interest organization formed by leaders in public health, environmental protection, affordable housing, and civil rights. The Alliance seeks to protect children from lead and other environmental health hazards in and around their homes by advocating for policy solutions and building capacity for primary prevention in communities throughout the US and around the world. Founded in 1990 to focus a comprehensive solution to childhood lead poisoning, the Alliance was designed to have the technical capacity and comprehensive reach across disciplines needed to effect change on a broad scale.
Over our twelve-year history, the Alliance has achieved impressive results, serving as an effective advocate and resource to federal agencies, policymakers, grassroots groups, the private sector, and the media on the technical and policy issues related to preventing lead poisoning. The Alliance brings demonstrated expertise, credibility, and effectiveness in finding practical solutions to technical, policy and legislative problems and overcoming real world obstacles to implementation. Critical achievements of the Alliance include:
Shifting the National Approach to Prevention. The Alliance has worked consistently to move the system beyond reacting to poisoned children to preventing and controlling lead hazards beforehand. The Alliance was instrumental in shaping the landmark 1992 legislation that remains today the driving force for controlling lead-based paint hazards in housing. At the local level, our “primary prevention strategies” reports provided a blueprint for local policy and programs and highlighted the benefits of prevention.
Expanding Resources for Prevention. Over the past decade, the Alliance has worked to increase funding for lead poisoning prevention at all levels. We have won increased funds for controlling lead hazards in low-income housing, screening children at risk, and high-quality research to validate the effectiveness of cost-effective solutions. Millions of properties receiving federal subsidies for rehab and rental assistance must now meet meaningful lead-safety requirements.
Brokering Innovative Policies. Alliance staff and board members played key roles in crafting the consensus lead-safety recommendations endorsed by the “Title X Task Force.” The Model State Law we developed with the National Conference of State Legislatures is the primary guide used by state legislators. The Alliance helped break the impasse on national blood lead screening guidelines and is now working to ensure that Medicaid provides screening, treatment, and prevention services as required.
