Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Getting The Lead Out

    
     Humans have mined and used lead for over 6,000 years. Across time, the pliable, soft metal has been fashioned into tools and utensils, used as a sweetener for wines, and even to provide an extra kick to a gallon of gasoline or add a gleaming sheen to a coat of paint. For over 1,000 years we've known that lead is poisonous. But it was not until March 29, 1979 that a pediatrician and child psychiatrist named Herbert Needleman first documented the dangers of even the lowest forms of lead exposure. More than 38 million homes in the United States contain deteriorating lead painted walls. Landlords refuse to abate these homes because it costs so much money and the renting parents have neither the funds nor access to safer housing elsewhere.
     In 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered the acceptable blood lead level to a 5 micrograms/dl, a mere fraction of the acceptable levels only 30 years earlier. In reality, even this seemingly "low" amount represents too high an acceptable level in a child's body and brain.

The only safe lead level is no lead!

     Despite the overwhelming body of science on this danger, millions of American babies and children are at risk to be poisoned on this anniversary of the discovery of just how damaging lead could be to the developing brain. Who will pay to abate such an environmental hazard -- the landlords, the lead paint producers, the government, everyone -- remains to be seen, as the usual subjects duke it out in courtrooms across America. For more info and full article please follow link http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/03/how-a-doctor-discovered-us-walls-were-poisonous.html
     The cost of lead abatement these days seems to be just as scary as the very real risks lead exposure pose to our health. That's why EZ Strip has dedicated time and resources to providing safe lead paint removal information, practices, and products. Everything from links to EPA lead safe info for families http://www2.epa.gov/lead, prevent lead poisoning during home renovation videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqUssA-PsD0, to providing advanced gel paint strippers with dust free wet working systems for a safer option to chemical stripping products http://ezstrip.ca/. Whether your a landlord, home owner, or renter there are steps that can be taken to reduce lead exposure in your home. Thanks for reading if you liked this be sure to subscribe to the EZ Strip Blog at http://ezstripblog.blogspot.ca/ for more great posts!      

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