Q: We have old lead paint peeling off our window frames. What’s the safest way to remove it?
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A: Right about now, you’re probably cursing the spirits of the former homeowners for gussying up their house with liquid lead. How were they to know those walls would be shedding toxic dust for decades to come?
Hell, until the 70s, we added lead to everything, including gasoline, and today we’re still finding it in everything from lipstick to toys.
In pre-WW2 houses, lead paint content was especially nutty (up to 50 per cent lead, in fact). And though it wasn’t until 1976 that the feds banned the practice of adding lead to interior paint, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says it’s rare for homes built after 1960 to have “significant quantities of leaded paint.”
Of course, CMHC admits there are exceptions.
Live in a home built before 1960 and got young kids? You need to move into high gear. Pediatricians say your children are at greater risk of lead poisoning from paint dust and flakes than from putting their old Thomas the Lead Choo Choo in their mouths.
If your walls are in good condition, i.e., not peeling, I’d say just paint over it with a few coats of fresh low- or zero-VOC paint. Flat surfaces that are cracked and chipping could be covered with vinyl-free wallpaper or drywall.
On the other hand, if your window frames are flaking, you might consider replacing them altogether, since sanding them down is a seriously bad idea. Picture lead dust flying through the air. The same goes for flaking baseboards and doors.
If you’re determined to do your own sanding and stripping, keep in mind that you’re going to have to treat the operation like a biohazard crime scene.
You’ll have to remove all rugs, furnishings and belongings from the room. Lead dust will stick to them like a bad case of herpes. Cover all heating and cooling vents and open the windows.
To make sure you catch all the dust from sanding, tape a plastic tarp to the baseboards. It goes without saying that you’ll need a respirator (not the cheap white numbers, but one with appropriate filters), gloves, goggles and protective outerwear you can peel on and off so you can enter and exit the room without dragging contaminants elsewhere. And you’ll definitely want to remove work shoes before stepping out of the room.
Keep in mind that chemically stripping paint off walls can bring some seriously hazardous toxins into your home and kick-start dizzy spells, headaches and wheezing.
Luckily, there are methylene chloride-free paint removers at cbrproducts.com. Biodegradable Soy Gel claims to strip urethanes and all paints, including lead-based paint. Overall, though, DIY lead paint removal is a major pain in the ass, and you’ll only make health matters worse if you don’t do it exactly right. Do yourself a favour and call a seasoned contractor with experience remediating lead paint.
Before you start posting biohazard signs and shipping the family off to the in-laws, you might want to send a paint sample for testing. You’ll find lead paint testing labs in the Yellow Pages.
And keep in mind that small amounts of another potent neurotoxin, mercury, were being used as a fungicide until the MC Hammer era, which means Health Canada says you should also take the above safety precautions when stripping paint in pre-1990 homes.
Warning: if you’re thinking of sanding down exterior paint on windows or doors while the weather’s warm, you’ll want to be extra careful. Lead wasn’t banned from exterior paint until, oh, 1992.
Parents fretting about lead levels can ask a doctor for a blood test. Anything more than 10 micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood should be cause for concern.
Readings at or near that range are a good indication you’ve got lead somewhere, be it from paint or pipes.
In the meantime, you’ll want to treat dust bunnies as your enemy. Translation: dust with a damp rag and vacuum often. Hey, I never said any of this would be fun.
Got a question? Send your green queries to ecoholic@nowtoronto.com
