Up until the 1970's it was common for household and industrial
paint to contain a small concentration of lead. This was to improve the smoothness of the dried finish and the overall 'spreadability' of the product.
Now, long after countries around the world banned its use, rather than disappearing into history, lead paint is becoming the asbestos of the new millennium. This is due to the multitude of older homes, factories and government buildings around the world that still have at least remnants of lead painted walls and ceilings. Consider this; although all the lead bearing surfaces may have been repainted repeatedly over the past thirty years or so, the trouble comes when a renovation is done. Peeling or chipping back the painted surfaces exposes the old paint, causing it to create lead oxide laden dust.
So just why is the lead oxide in this deteriorating paint so harmful? Well, lead can harm virtually every part of the human body; in particular the brain, kidney and reproductive system. Lead can enter the body in several ways, for example the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract and alarmingly simply through skin absorption. Lead gets into the body when you breathe in lead dust or fumes in the air around you. If you swallow food or water that's contaminated by lead dust, small amounts of lead can gradually build up in the body and cause health problems.
Even more disturbing is the fact that lead can't be excreted. It stores in the body for up to 30 years in bone, from where it can mobilize back into the blood. From a single exposure, lead is readily absorbed and quickly distributed to your blood, soft tissue and bones/teeth. Anaemia can occur if lead accumulates in blood and in blood-forming tissues (bone marrow). Lead distorts the production of red blood cells in the body.
People suffering the effects of lead toxicity usually feel a headache or lethargy. Symptoms of moderate to severe exposure include irritability, abdominal pain or constipation, aggressiveness and colic leading to seizures and death. Lead poisoning in children may manifest as developmental delay, learning difficulties or other behavioural problems.
To further add to the difficulty, safely removing lead paint is problematic. Workers have to not only protect themselves with suitable masks and suits, but also buildings and people in the vicinity. Disposal of the toxic waste must be done according to strict protocols, and is therefore an expensive and highly specialised exercise.
So it can be seen why lead in old paint, still trapped in countless older buildings the world over, is a menace that will continue to plague us for the foreseeable future.
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