Salt Lake City's older homes are at risk for lead paints and pipes.
Urban Living
Babs De Lay Dec 26, 2024 4:00 AM
If you purchase a home built before 1978, the seller is required by federal law to disclose whether or not they know if there is lead-based paint (LBP) in the property. I can tell you, in my 40 years as a realtor, I've had only two buyers test for LBP.
I remember, back in the 1960s, Walter Cronkite on the CBS evening news sharing reports of poor children living in low-income housing in NYC being diagnosed with lead poisoning ... from eating the paint peeling off the walls in their home. Apparently, it tastes sweet, but it also causes brain damage!
Most homes that have LBP aren't toxic, because the surface has most likely been painted over with non-toxic paint. My home inspectors say that as long as it's not friable and gets in the air, and you don't eat or ingest it, you're safe.
The news last week reported that the owners of North Aspen Apartments at 1722 W. 400 North in Salt Lake City agreed to pay a $74,00 penalty and modify its lead disclosure practices to settle allegations that it violated the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. This requirement ensures that home buyers and renters of most housing built before 1978 have the right to know whether lead-based paint and associated hazards like contaminated dust and soil are present before signing a contract or lease.
The settlement is part of EPA's ongoing national strategy to protect communities from toxic lead paint hazards. Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint, which was banned from use in 1978 due to its harmful health effects. Infants, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to lead exposure.
Despite lead's toxic characteristics, it has been used for centuries in products such as paint, gasoline, ceramics, pipes, batteries, cosmetics, toys and pesticides. The presence of lead hazards in our environment resulting from these uses creates a problem that is still considered a major public health concern.
The EPA reports that lead enters the body through swallowing or breathing lead particles and can then accumulate in the blood, tissues and organs. There is no known safe blood lead level, and irreversible health damage can occur, with consequences such as headaches, stomachaches, sleeping or eating disorders, attention deficit disorders and weakness or clumsiness. Even where physical symptoms are not present, there can be significant health and brain damage.
Luckily, we don't have many lead water pipes here in Utah, like they do in Detroit, Michigan. In the Detroit during 2016, 2,000 children under 6 years old (8.8%) were found to have elevated blood lead levels. They are spending millions of dollars in that state to replace lead pipes.
If you are worried about lead paint or pipes, ask your home inspector for a referral to a testing company, or lead paint detection kits are cheap and available at local hardware stores.
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