What is Lead-containing Paint

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Lead paint is defined in Australian Standard AS4361.2 – 1998 Guide to lead paint management – Part 2: Residential and commercial buildings as a paint film or component of a paint system containing lead or lead compounds, in which the lead content (calculated as lead metal) is in excess of 1.0% by weight of the dry film as determined by laboratory testing.

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White lead (lead carbonate) was once the principal white pigment in paints for houses and public buildings. Paint with lead pigment was manufactured until the late 1960s. In 1969 the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Uniform Paint Standard was amended to restrict lead content in domestic paint.

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Many older Australia homes and buildings still contain lead paint even though it may be covered with layers of more recent paint. Lead paint was used mainly on exterior surfaces and to a lesser degree on interior doors, architraves and windows, especially in undercoats and primers where concentrations of up to 20% lead were used. Interior walls were not commonly painted with paint containing white lead, however some coloured paints did contain red, yellow and orange lead-chrome pigments.

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All paints manufactured for Australian dwellings since the 1970s have been required to contain less than 1% lead. However, it is possible that industrial paints with higher lead concentrations may have been applied to residential and commercial buildings since the 1970s.

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Health Effects

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Lead in any form is toxic to humans when ingested or inhaled. Repeated ingestion or inhalation of lead particles can lead to the accumulation of lead in the body and can result in lead poisoning. Lead paint removal poses two potential routes of exposure to humans:

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1. ingestion or inhalation of lead paint by workers and the public in the vicinity of the work;
    

2. deposition of lead paint particles in nearby areas, such as footpaths, streets and soil, which may then be re-suspended and tracked into houses or other buildings where they can be ingested or inhaled.

 

It is recommended that children and pregnant women should not be present when renovations are being carried out that will disturb lead paint because children and the developing embryo/foetus are particularly susceptible to the health effects of lead exposure.

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Acute (short-term) health effects of exposure to lead include headache, fatigue, nausea, abdominal cramps, joint pain, metallic taste in the mouth, vomiting, constipation and bloody diarrhoea.

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Long-term health effects of exposure to lead may include effects on the following body systems:

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• central nervous system – health effects and symptoms may include forgetfulness, irritability, tiredness, headache, fatigue, impotence, decreased libido, dizziness, depression, encephalopathy, delirium, lack of coordination, convulsions, paralysis, coma and death;
   

• peripheral nervous system – health effects and symptoms may include weakness of the arms and legs, weakness and paralysis of the wrist, fingers and ankles, decreased hand dexterity and footdrop and wristdrop (an inability to hold the foot or hand extended);
   

• digestive system – health effects and symptoms may include loss of appetite, inflammation of the stomach walls (gastritis) and colic, with severe abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, vomiting, constipation, anorexia (loss of appetite), weight loss and decreased urination;
   

• kidneys – health effects and symptoms may include reversible and irreversible kidney damage and kidney disease;
   

• blood and heart – health effects and symptoms may include reduced haemoglobin production and reduced life span and function of red blood cells, anaemia, increased blood pressure and electrocardiographic abnormalities;
   

• carcinogenicity – The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified elemental lead in Group 2B: Possibly carcinogenic to humans and has classified inorganic lead compounds in Group 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans;
   

• teratogenicity and embryotoxicity – lead exposure during pregnancy has been associated with significant harmful effects on pregnancy, including increased miscarriages and stillbirths, and harmful effects on neurobehavioural development and growth rate in children;
   

• reproductive system – health effects may include significant male reproductive effects, such as low sperm count, abnormal sperm structure and mobility and reduced fertility;
   

• mutagenicity – mutagenic effects include somatic and germ cell aberrations.