Lead on Lead on Lead (part 4 of 5)

Canada and the United States share a lot of the same laws and regulations when it comes to lead. EPA has been addressing lead contamination and any resulting hazards under these laws by issuing and enforcing regulations. Some of the common regulations are listed below!

Lead in paint, dust and soil

In order to protect families from exposure to lead in paint, dust, and soil, the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act was passed in 1992. Since ¾ of the US housing was built before 1978, this meant a large amount of lead based paint was used. When this paint starts to chips and dust is when it starts to pose a real health risk. Recent studies show that 1.7 million children have blood-levels above safe limits… Eeek! The most common source being from lead-based paint hazards.

SO now the regulation is that a professional with training and certification requirements must do all renovations, risk assessment, and construction.

Lead in water, food, and cosmetics

Lead in water is regulated under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, while lead found in food and cosmetics are regulated by the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration).

The Clean Water Act prohibits anyone from discharging any type of pollutant (including lead) into any body of water in the country. Additionally, wastewaters may be indirectly discharging into the waters of the country. Therefore, pretreatment standards have been set out for our drinking water.

The Lead and Copper Rule is a technique used to monitor drinking water that comes out of your tap. If lead concentrations exceed the level of 15 ppb (parts per billion) in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, then that system must undergo a number of additional actions to control the corrosion.

Lead in air

Lead that is in the air around us is regulated in two different ways under the Clean Air Act. As of 2008, the standard is no more than 0.15 µg/m3 (which in English means micrograms per cubic meter of air). Air pollution is constantly measured to maintain these requirements in North America.

Lead in consumer products

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates lead in consumer goods, especially children’s toys. In 2008 an act was passed that limited the amount of lead used when painting and coating surfaces of these toys.

– K