Lead-based paint in the United States

Humans are exposed to lead through air, drinking water, food, contaminated soil, deteriorating paint, and dust.

These definitions are used to enforce regulations that apply to certain activities conducted in housing constructed prior to 1978, such as abatement, or the permanent elimination of a "lead-based paint hazard."

The procedures for lead inspections is outlined in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Guidelines, Chapter 7, 1997 Revision.

In addition, if a child is poisoned in a property, the owner may be required to perform abatement (permanent elimination of the lead hazard).

In 1996, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency enacted the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Regulation.

The EPA issued a new regulation called 'Renovation, Repair and Painting' (RRP) regarding the renovation of residential housing and child-occupied buildings built before 1978 on April 22, 2008.

Under the rule, contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based coatings (including lead paint, shellac or varnish) in child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be certified and must follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

Activities performed by all of these trades can disturb lead-based paint and have the potential to create hazardous lead dust.

The RRP rule is controversial, primarily due to the increased cost remodelers incur as a result of having to set up dust containment apparatuses,[12] including sealing off doorways and HVAC ducts with plastic.

Though the EPA considered expanding the rule to require contractors to pass a third-party dust wipe clearance exam[14] these revisions were rejected in July, 2011.

[20] In recent rulings, the Supreme Court held the contingent fee agreement was improper, stating that “When a government attorney has a personal interest in the litigation, the neutrality so essential to the system is violated.”[21] While the City of Columbus, Ohio voluntarily dropped its lawsuit against the paint industry after the Rhode Island decision,[22] the State of Ohio's suit remains.

Dry sanding, dry scraping, removing paint by torching and burning, the use of heat guns over 1100°F, and machine-sanding or grinding without a HEPA filtered dust collection system or a HEPA-filtered vacuum are all prohibited by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as methods of removing lead-based-paint.

HUD prohibits these methods because they have been proven to create significant levels of lead dust during remodeling, renovation and painting.

Although there are commercially available lead test kits, they are not reliable and are not authorized by HUD for the use of determining if a property is lead-based-paint free.