If you live in an old home, you may need to worry about lead paint and your windows. If the original windows have since been replaced, this may not be a concern for you. However, if your home still has its original windows, you will want to contact your local window replacement company to have them replaced. Lead can be very dangerous to your health, so it’s important to avoid it however you can.
Hasn’t Lead Been Banned For Residential Use?
If you’re a bit confused by why your older home would need its windows replaced, it’s understandable. After all, the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971 restricted lead content used in housing. Then, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned leaded paint in 1976. After all this, the federal government banned consumer use of all lead paint in 1978.
However, this doesn’t mean that all homes with lead paint were redone. If your home is from the 1970s or earlier, it most likely has lead.
How To Know If Your Home Has Lead Paint
If your home is from the 1970s or earlier and hasn’t been redone, more likely than not, it still has lead. The lead can be present under layers of paint. If your paint is in good condition, it’s typically not a problem. However, when the paint stars to deteriorate, that’s when it becomes hazardous. You must take proper precautions in order to ensure that you don’t breath lead dust in.
Homes with lead paint must come with a mandatory seller’s disclosure. If you inherited the house from someone else or someone else handled the buying process for you, you can ask about this.
You can also test for lead paint. This can be done with a kit or by contacting a lead testing service. Window professionals can test for it too.
What Does Lead Do To You?
Lead can cause health problems and lead poisoning. Lead-based paint and its dust is the most common source of lead poisoning. Merely opening and closing windows can generate enough lead dust to poison children.
Symptoms from lead exposure include:
- High blood pressure
- Muscle pain
- Joint pain
- Memory loss
- Headaches
- Stomach problems
- Mood disorders
- Miscarriage
- Reduced sperm
- Abnormal sperm
- Stillbirth
- Premature birth
- Kidney damage
- Nerve disorders
- Hearing loss
- Vision loss
- Bone marrow problems
- Slowed growth
- Damage to the brain
- Damage to the nervous system
- Behavior problems
- Learning problems
- And more
Lead poisoning can be fatal at very high levels. It’s especially dangerous to children under 6 years old and pregnant women.
You can get a blood test to see if you have lead poisoning.
What To Do If You Have Lead In Your Home
If you have lead in your home, you can call your local health department about reducing and eliminating lead exposure.
It’s best to replace lead-painted windows, rather than attempt to paint over them/scrap paint off, in order to avoid toxic dust/lead poisoning. This is due to the fact that deteriorating lead paint is very dangerous.
Lead-certified window contractors know how to prevent lead contamination. The EPA Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rules (LRRP) requires any work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of pre-1978 homes to follow rigorous practices to prevent lead exposure. You can always ask to see your window contractor’s certification to be sure that they’ll keep you safe.
Lead-certified window contractors prevent lead contamination by:
- Isolating the area in order to work where lead paint is
- Sealing it off
- Using safe practices while removing and cleaning up
The EPA requires specific cleaning protocols and verification of the process.
Can You Opt Out Of Replacing Lead-Painted Windows?
Some people and contractors complain about the additional cost of these requirements and want the EPA to reinstate an opt-out option for homes without children under 6 or pregnant women.
However, your health is worth far more than additional labor costs, which makes it more than worth it. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
How To Improve Your Safety With Lead-Painted Windows
One of the most important investments you can make for your safety is to replace old windows according to EPA lead safe renovation guidelines. Energy Star windows are an excellent choice for replacement, due to their exceptional energy efficiency.
If you need to replace the windows in your home, Peak Windows is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our window services and how we can make your home a safer place.
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