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Lead Services
Lead inspections and risk assessments are generally requested by private individuals, realtors, financial institutions, or corporations when an older, pre-1978 structure is slated for occupancy by young children, when slated for demolition, or when used as a childcare facility. HydroTech maintains a state licensed lead inspector and lead risk assessor on staff.
WHAT IS LEAD?
Lead is a naturally occurring metal that has been introduced into paint and other materials for its inherent characteristics. Lead has long been recognized as a harmful environmental pollutant, most commonly found in lead-based paint (LBP) used on or before 1978. Other sources for contamination include water from lead-containing pipes, and contaminated soils or dust from areas where construction, demolition, painting, battery or radiator repair, or certain hobbies are prevalent. Lead can also settle out of industrial stack emissions to the surrounding land surfaces.
HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOU?
In late 1991, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services called lead the "number one environmental threat to the health of children in the United States." High levels of lead exposure through ingestion or inhalation can affect practically all systems within the body, resulting in convulsions, coma, and even death. Lower levels of lead contamination can adversely affect the central nervous system, kidneys, and blood cells.
The effects of lead exposure on fetuses and young children can be severe, including delays in physical and mental development, lower IQ levels, shortened attention spans, and increased behavioral problems.
Previous concerns over lead exposure attributed high Blood Lead Levels (BLL) to the ingestion of paint chips or the chewing of painted window sills. Today’s science proves that lead exposure occurs invisibly through contact of lead materials or dust on floors or soil, and subsequent hand-to-mouth interaction.
HOW CAN HYDROTECH HELP?
HydroTech`s state-licensed Lead Inspector will conduct an initial investigation and/or sampling to determine the presence and condition of lead-based paint or presence of lead dust.
Current federal regulations do not require or impose requirements on non-bedroom facilities. However, structures built prior to 1978, in which infants and toddlers or older adults are present, should be investigated for the presence of lead-based paints or lead dust.
Generally speaking, lead-based paint in good condition is not a problem except in places where painted surfaces rub together creating dust (such as on window frames).