History of Lead
Poisoning
Lead Regulations - The
Federal Government And Lead Recommendations
Currently, there are regulations regarding lead that has been
developed to help protect the well being and safety of the
environment and to individuals. Most of the regulations and
recommendations are restrictions on lead content in the air,
water, soil, and food that maintains safety to people exposed
to the lead.
 The
EPA requires that the lead concentration that the public breathes
in the air should be no higher than 1.5 micrograms per cubic
meter over a 3 month span. Burning of gasoline containing
lead accounts for 90% of the lead in the atmosphere, and EPA
regulations no longer allow lead in gasoline. In 1990, the
Clean Air Act Amendments banned the sale of gasoline containing
lead as of December 31, 1995.
Drinking water cannot contain more than 0.015
milligrams per liter of lead due to EPA lead regulations,
and the 1988 Lead Contamination Control Act requires the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, EPA, and the states to recall or
repair water coolers that contain lead. All new water coolers
are required to be lead-free, drinking water within schools
are required to be tested for lead, and the sources of lead
in the school water must be removed under the 1988 lead act.
| In
work areas that have lead exposure, OSHA regulations limit
the concentration of lead to 50 ug/m^3 for an 8- hours
workday. If a worker’s lead blood levels reach 50
ug/dL they must be removed from the workroom with the
lead source according to OSHA requirements. |
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends that states develop a plan to find children with
elevated lead levels or who may be exposed to lead sources
to test their blood lead levels. The CDC has basic recommendations
that states should follow, including testing children at ages
1 and 2. Children whom have never been tested between the
years of 3-6 should get tested for lead levels and receive
services from public assistance programs if they do not have
the resources to be tested.
The CDC has identified children with blood
lead levels of at least 10ug/dL to be an elevated level of
lead. Any child with a blood lead level of 20 ug/dL or greater
should have complete medical evaluations and an environmental
investigation should accompany that.
Paints used to contain high levels of lead
prior to 1978 when standards of lead content in paint was
changed. Now paint cannot contain more than 0.06%, though
many older establishments and living spaces contain the lead
paint. This affects urban children the most who live in rundown
conditions with chipped and peeling paint, with one in five
urban children affected by lead poisoning in the U.S. Standards
used by the EPA and HUD states that paint with lead concentration
of 1.0 milligram per square centimeter or more of surface
area should either be treated or removed.
The EPA has published informational pamphlets
on lead and lead prevention in homes in order to better educate
parents and property owners to better prevent instances of
lead poisoning from occurring.
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