Lead paint worries...

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nankonir

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Okay, I'm a little worried about this. I moved into this OLD (built in 1961) apartment at the beginning of April. When I signed the papers I asked the landlord if there were any hazards in the building that I should know about, like lead-based paint, asbestos, etc, and he answered with a pretty confident no. I believed him, forgot about it and went about my normal life. I lived in this apartment like it was completely safe. I opened windows, stuck my head out of windows, walked barefoot, washed everything without heavy-duty protective gear, I bit my nails after touching furniture that had dust on it... you name it, any normal human activity, I did it without thinking twice. Here is my room:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDc1E5TyLY&feature=plcp[/ame]

You could see the nasty paint peeling off the other side. I tested a sample of that paint earlier today by dropping in into a solution and the results were pretty scary. It turns out the paint has lead levels MUCH higher than what is allowed by the EPA, the highest concentration measurable by the test-kit I used since the water turned black.

I lived in this house for 4 months. Sometimes I put the little silver fan (visible in the video) into the window. On many nights, I kept the window open as I slept. Sometimes I would find pieces of paint on the floor that the wind had blown in. I simply picked them up with my bare fingers and chucked them into the garbage, thinking it was totally safe.

The wind usually blows in from the outside. How much lead particles could be picked up and carried in with the wind? Assuming I didn't get high levels of lead into my blood stream from picking up small pieces of lead paint with my bare fingers, how much lead could I have gotten by simply inhaling air that had traveled across and in between lead paint chips over a period of 4 months?

I am going to get my blood tested tomorrow.
 
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I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about lead exposure, people have been around it for a long, long time. Unless you are chewing on the wood work, sanding the paint and sniffing the dust, peeling the paint and putting the chips on a sandwich, there are other things in life that will harm you more.
 
I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about lead exposure, people have been around it for a long, long time. Unless you are chewing on the wood work, sanding the paint and sniffing the dust, peeling the paint and putting the chips on a sandwich, there are other things in life that will harm you more.

Like stress for example, heh. I guess you are right, but I'm still going to get my blood tested. I bite my nails frequently and I'm sure I did it at least a dozen times after opening that window without washing my hands first.

Does anybody know what I could/should do about my landlord? The guy seems to be utterly clueless. He looks like a recent immigrant from Eastern Europe so maybe he doesn't even know that lead is hazardous? I don't think they have any regulations on hazardous materials over there. I called him yesterday and asked him again if he knew anything about the paint and this time he seemed to not even understand what I was saying. Perhaps he misunderstood me the first time as well? Aren't there laws that require him to have the unit inspected before putting it up for rent? Shouldn't it have been inspected before he bought it in 2002? Do you think he is intentionally keeping this information from his tenants because he doesn't want to lose money? He needs to take care of this problem so the next tenants don't have to go through all of this trouble of exposure and subsequent anxiety and medical expenses...
 
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If you are so concerned, move. Next time take a lead test kit with you when you go looking for apts to rent and don't tkae the landlords word for what is in the unit.
 
If the place is older than 1978 and the landlord works on the place, he needs training and certification in lead based paint. Check with EPA about lead based paint.
 
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