Lead Abatement & More!

Sounds pretty riveting right?  After having spent the whole weekend scouring 49th Street in the attempt to make it dust/lead/chemical free, I decided to do a little research myself.  And, while everyone knows lead is dangerous, I thought some of these facts were more interesting.  This is based on info from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report & the CDC.  I had no idea there was a MMWR, it must be fascinating!

Experience suggests that the lead, paint, and other industries may try to use data to argue that lead poisoning is no longer a problem or that further preventive measures are unjustified because “the problem is going away by itself.”  wow, really?

• More than 38 million US homes and apartments are burdened by lead-based paint, and more than 24 million of them contain substantial lead hazards, according to HUD.

And more :

Muscle and joint pain, headaches, memory and concentration problems, nerve and digestive disorders, slowed growth ‹ these are just a few of the potential consequences of lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning is caused by exposure to lead from our environment -- in old water pipes, old painted toys or furniture, or foods/liquids stored in lead crystal or lead-glazed pottery. And if you live in a house built before 1978, the paint on your walls probably contains lead.

Increasing evidence suggests that nutritional deficiencies also affect levels of lead in the human body.  A recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that subjects with high levels of vitamin C intake had less measurable lead in their bloodstream than subjects with low levels of vitamin C intake. Specifically, the data showed that:

• Children with the higher vitamin C intake were 89% less likely to have elevated blood lead levels compared with youths with the lowest intake; and
• Adults with the highest vitamin C intake were 65-68% less likely to have elevated blood lead levels compared with adults with the lowest intake.

 I can now say I feel even better that we are taking a large amount of time cleaning our construction site so that our 6 year old can spend time inside the house while we continue to work for the next year.  I can only hope all Project Managers, Weekend Rehabbers and Your General Contractor will do the same.