Sydney Painters Lead Paint Removal Services
Does your pre 1970 home have peeling or chalking paint?
There are at least 3.5 million homes in Australia with lead based paint and it is not possible to identify it by its ‘look.’ Lead paint is often sweet tasting and therefore children will pick at it and eat it and animals will lick it. When lead based paint is sanded, scraped or is peeling it creates a dangerous lead dust that is easily inhaled or swallowed. This dust also enters soil where it is easily accessed by children or animals. Lead does not breakdown. It remains toxic and unless dealt with safely it will not ‘go away.’
Lead Paint removal has become such a serious issue in Australia, that Sydney Painters is the Parent Company to Lead Paint Removal Pty Ltd. We employ over 11 licensed and certified lead paint abatement specialists who follow strict safety guidelines when removing lead paint.
Facts about lead
- Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born. Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.
- You can get lead in your body by breathing or swallowing lead dust or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.
- You have many options for reducing lead hazards. In most cases, lead-based paint that is in good condition is not a hazard.
- Removing lead-based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family.
Lead can be found:
- In houses (interior and exterior)
- In apartments, single-family homes, and both private and public housing
- Commercial and industrial buildings (interior and exterior)
- All other buildings built before 1970
People can get lead in their body if they:
- Put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths.
- Eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.
- Breathe in lead dust, especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces.
FACT: Most people who are lead poisoned present with no symptoms at all.
Effects of lead on adults
- Headaches
- Teeth with blueblack-lines near gum base
- Impotence
- Sterility, infertility
- Effects on ovaries
- Cell damage (at blood lead level between 20 to 30 mg/dL for men and between 10 to 20 mg/dL for women)
- Erectile dysfunction, impotence
- Decreased serum testosterone
- Lead presence in seminal fluid
- Sterility, infertility
- Effects on ovaries
- Decreased libido / sex drive
- Altered testicular functioning
- Hypospermia [low sperm count]
- Asthenospermia [sperm weakness]
- Teratospermia [sperm abnormalities]
Kidneys
- Renal damage
- Chronic lead nephropathy [kidney disease]
- Death from nephritis [kidney inflammation]
- Renal hypertension
Nervous system
- Encephalopathy [brain disease]
- Cerebrovascular diseases, stroke, cerebral haemorrhage
- Psychomotor impairment
- Peripheral nervous system impairment [eg wrist-drop]
- Peripheral Arterial Disease
- Slowed nerve conduction velocity [slowed reaction time]
- Tremor
Cardiovascular and circulation
- Hypertension, elevated blood pressure
- Increased systolic blood pressure in men
- Cardio-toxic effects
- Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
- Coronary artery disease
- Anaemia; falling haemoglobin levels
- Platelet dysfunction
- Increased erythrocyte [red blood cell] protoporphyrin
- Increased ALA in urine
- Increased protoporphyrin in urine
- Increased risk of early death from heart attack or stroke
Intellectual and mental
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Personality changes
- Death from violence, suicide, accidents
- Impaired concentration
- Deficits in short term memory
- Cognitive function deficit
Behaviour
- Fatigue, muscular exhaustion
- Sleep disturbance, insomnia
- Irritability, agitation, restlessness, aggression
Sensory
- Abnormalities in visuomotor coordination
- Abnormalities in fine motor control
- Deficits in visual acuity
- Hearing loss
- Somatosensory dysfunction [eg deficits in detection of vibration, changes in temperature]
Gastrointestinal / Digestive
- Effects on gastrointestinal tract
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Constipation, diarrhoea
- Abdominal pain, cramps
- Weight loss, anorexia
Bone, muscle and joint
- Bone marrow alterations
- Myalgia [muscle pain]
- Pain in buttocks and cramps in the legs as early stages of peripheral arterial diseases
- Muscular weakness
- Arthralgia [joint pain]
- Bone marrow alterations
- Bone lead mobilisation during menopause leads to decreased neurocognitive performance and increased systolic blood pressure in post-menopausal women
- Wrist drop [the inability to hold the hand extended]
- Long term effect: linked to osteoporosis which has symptoms of decline in bone density and increase risk in fractures, also inhibit normal fracture healing & Death
Lead is more dangerous to children because:
- Babies and young children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths. These objects can have lead dust on them.
- Children's growing bodies absorb more lead.
- Children's brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.
Effects of lead from animal studies
- Impaired attention, learning and short-term memory in primates
- Behavioural impairment; inflexibility in behavioural change in primates
- Elevated blood pressure at moderate levels
- Impaired immune system in new-borns of rats fed lead [greater susceptibility to asthma ]
- Increased incidence of tumors (cancer) in rats born to mothers fed lead
- Altered response to stimulant drugs; attenuation of drug induced hyperactivity in rats
- Impaired attention, learning and short-term memory in primates
- Teratogenic effect causing birth deformities
- Low bone density in lab animals such as mice and fractures due to lead-induced osteoporosis do not heal properly
