Lead In Old Flooring

Presume all paints and varnishes applied before 1980 contain lead including finishes on old toys furniture and playground equipment.

Lead in old flooring.

Before 1978 lead was used in many of the clear coats with drying agents such as lead acetate. The agency s proposal would lower the amount of lead that can remain in dust on floors and window sills after lead removal activities from 40 micrograms µg of lead in dust per square foot ft 2 to 10 µg ft 2 for floor dust and from 250 µg ft 2 to 100 µg ft 2 for window sill dust. Old tile floors where the surfaces have been abraded by use and cleaning products contribute to lead in house dust. However most of the risk from lead is due to the long term exposure to the paint so the precautions you have been taking should be adequate.

Lead was sometimes added to old varnishes so sanding old hardwood floors can be dangerous. But in the mid 1960 s new urethane products were introduced. Post a question or comment about the presence of lead in flooring floor polishes the detection of lead in flooring using swipe tests swab tests hand held xrf devices. Old hardwood floor finishes were often varnish and possibly shellac.

Read the press release. Hand scraping on stairs generated higher lead in air levels than power sanding on floors. A new federal law took effect in april 2010 that requires all contractors who perform renovations for compensation in residential dwellings built before 1978 to be trained and certified in the use of lead safe work. Potential lead dust hazards in ceramic tile.

As a result refinishing stairs resulted in higher settled lead dust levels than refinishing floors. It is expected below the layer of paint that the previous owners painted is lead paint or the hardwood floors were painted with lead paint some years ago. The typical buyer of an old or historic home is expecting hardwood floors. Therefore you should take precautions when removing the old material.

Sanding a lead bearing floor can fill your home with enormous quantities of lead dust a major source of lead contamination. And while a click lock engineered wood or laminate floor may be considered an upgrade on a new home it is a definite cold shower to your historic home s market price. On the second floor much of the hardwood floors are painted very bright and vibrant colors. Lead content in floor coverings lead ingredients in asbestos floor tiles ceramic floor tiles floor polishes.

There is a risk here and varnish from a legal point of view can be considered lead based paint says joe schirmer public health educator with. Pre refinishing testing found more lead on stairs that on floors perhaps because stairs most often still wore original varnish. Removing lead paint from 200 year old wood floor q.