ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604040006
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: MATTHEW L. WALD THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sixty-four million houses and apartments contain lead-based paint, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates, and that includes the great majority of those built before 1978.
Researchers say many of the people who live in them have no idea of the hazards of sanding or stripping the paint, or even opening and closing doors and windows with surfaces that rub together.
But federal regulations announced earlier this month will require sellers and landlords to give information to buyers and renters, disclosing what they know about a particular property, including the results of any lead tests in their possession. Landlords and sellers must also provide a pamphlet, developed by HUD and the Environmental Protection Agency and available in English and Spanish.
The regulations also guarantee buyers a 10-day period to test the house for lead, which will make lead similar to radon in the way it is handled in real estate transactions. A technician can test for lead by using an electronic device called an X-ray fluorescence gun, or paint chips can be sent a laboratory. Depending on the paint's condition, the remedy can be to remove it, to cover it or leave it as is.
The new regulations were called for in a 1994 law governing disclosure of lead paint in real estate deals. The law is binding on real estate agents and rental brokers, along with landlords and sellers. The rules take effect on Sept. 6 for landlords or sellers with four or more houses or apartments, and on Dec. 6 for everyone else.
``The public has a right to know about toxic hazards in the community, and [this] action expands that right,'' Carol M. Browner, the administrator of the EPA, said in a statement.
The manufacture of lead-based paint was banned in 1978, but obviously that did not make the paint already on walls and woodwork go away. It's still there, vulnerable to chipping or abrading.
As researchers have found health damage from lower and lower doses of lead, the federal government has redefined the problem and now reports that more than 1.7 million children have unsafe blood levels of lead. There are sources besides paint, but since leaded gasoline has all but disappeared, the main source is lead paint.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB