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Banned Building Materials Are Real Home Health Hazards

Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by Oksana Irwin in Indoor Air Quality

Millions of homes harbor lead-based paint, asbestos, and toxic wood preservatives. All three have been banned from building products, but they continue to plague building owners and occupants.

Lead-based paint
Of the three, lead-based paint is by far the greatest hazard. Young children who ingest old paint chips or get lead-contaminated dust on their hands and in their mouths can develop lead poisoning, a serious condition that can damage the brain and the nervous system.

If you have a home that’s more than 30 years old, be aware that any disturbance of old paint–sanding, scraping, using heat guns or paint strippers–can release lead particles into your home. (And even if you’re not doing any remodeling work, peeling or chipping paint can wind up in children’s mouths or in your whole family’s lungs.)

Even though lead in paint has been banned for thirty years in the United States, imported products made with lead-based paint continue to be sold here in violation of the law. Read our Toys article to learn how to protect your children.

Asbestos
Asbestos is a mineral fiber used in building materials to increase strength and heat resistance until it was banned in the 1970s. High levels of exposure to airborne asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer and other fatal diseases. Asbestos-related diseases have primarily been associated with workers exposed to high levels on job. But if you have a home that’s more than 30 years old, when you do home improvement projects it’s smart to take precautions to prevent asbestos from becoming friable and airborne. This can happen if the asbestos-containing material is cut into, damaged, sanded, or removed during remodeling.

Asbestos materials in older homes include duct and pipe insulation, attic and wall insulation, ceiling tiles, wallboard and joint compound, electrical insulation, floor-tile adhesives, roofing, and siding. It’s often impossible to tell by looking at a material if it contains asbestos. You can have a material tested by sending a small sample to an asbestos testing laboratory.

If an asbestos-containing material is in good shape, leave it alone. It’s not harmful unless it deteriorates. If you need to repair or remove it, consult the U.S. EPA’s website; the asbestos section has detailed information on safe handling.

Wood preservatives
The once-common wood preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA) was banned for most residential uses at the end of 2003. It contains arsenic and can cause cancer and other illnesses. If you have decks and playground equipment that were treated with CCA, protect yourself and your family with an oil or water-based stain that penetrates the wood surface. Painting the surfaces is not advisable because paint can chip and flake, requiring scraping and sanding that will only increase your exposure to CCA. When working with wood that was treated with this material, shower afterward and wash your work clothes separately. When you dispose of any-old or new-treated lumber, make sure it goes to a lined landfill, and don’t burn it. Burning it can release toxic substances into the air.

For new projects you should use EPA-approved preservatives, such as quat and azole, made from less toxic copper-based compounds. The only way you are likely to run into wood preserved with the banned compound is if you buy from a dealer with very old inventory.

Source: Sierra Club

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