Lead Paint Decision Guide

Revised 5/03

This guide is for program managers who are trying to decide if they want to collect loose paint chip samples in the communities they serve and which properties to sample.  The Sampling Instructions provide the step-by-step instructions that the Hazard Investigator needs.  CEHRC’s Lead Paint Background Materials offer added reference information. 

• Why is lead paint important?  Loose or peeling paint with enough lead in it to meet the Federal standard for lead-based paint is a health hazard for children and a lead based paint hazard under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.  Lead paint is a problem because young children can put paint chips in their mouths and the chips can get ground up into dust, which gets on a child’s hands or in their lungs when they play.  Contact with lead paint and dust can cause learning difficulties, behavior problems, and damage to the nervous system and other organs. You may find that lead-based paint is a source of the lead dust that you discover in a house.  (CEHRC has a separate sampling guide for collecting lead dust samples.) 

• Which homes should be checked?  Collect loose paint chip samples in homes with lead paint in poor condition to supplement lab results showing the presence of lead dust hazards. 

a.  Old homes are more likely to have lead-based paint.  Most homes built before 1960 have some lead-based paint.

b. Homes with poor maintenance are more likely to have peeling, flaking, or cracking paint.  Lead-based paint in good condition is not a health hazard.  Only paint in poor condition is a problem. 

c.  Homes with young children (under age 6) live or spend a lot of time are a good place to sample because children are at greatest risk from lead paint and dust hazards. 

d.  If you are not sure if a home has lead-based paint, you can use low cost chemical test kits to give you an instant indication of whether there might be lead in the paint.  (See Lead Swabs Protocol.) 

Year House or Apartment Built/ Percentage of Housing Units with Lead-Based Paint
1989-1998 1978-1988 1960-1977 1940-1959 Before 1940	5%  8%  24%  69%  87%

Source:  US HUD, National Survey Of Lead and Allergens in Housing, 2001.

• How can you test for deteriorated lead-based paint?  

a.  CEHRC recommends a low cost two-step test.  First, you look to see if the paint is peeling, flaking, chipping, or cracking – all of these types of poor paint condition meet the EPA & HUD definitions for deteriorated paint.  (See the Visual Survey.)  Second, you test pieces of the deteriorated paint to see if it has enough lead to be lead-based.  CEHRC recommends using a simple test of collecting loose paint chips that have fallen off the wall or trim (or can be easily removed from a painted surface without damaging it) and then sending them to a laboratory for analysis.  This type of testing is low cost but it has limitations: it can only tell you about the paint you sample and you may miss older layers of paint that may not be peeling in one location, but is deteriorated in another.

• LeadCheck Swabs - Follow CEHRC protocol.  If the swab tests and the age of housing suggest that there is likely to be a lot of lead paint, there are two options: (1) You can collect loose paint samples and send them to a lab.  (2) You can hire a certified Inspector or Risk Assessor to use an XRF instrument to test the entire home for lead on-site. Paint inspection will likely cost at least $200 but can provide data that is more comprehensive than loose paint chip sampling because it looks at more places and samples ALL the layers of the paint.  This alternative is only likely to make sense when results must stand up in court or similar settings.

• What training is required?  You must complete CEHRC sponsored training that supplements the Lead Sampling Technician training in collecting loose paint chip samples.  This training only takes about 30 minutes.

• How much does testing paint chips cost?  Beyond training, there are minimal costs.  The cost of supplies and laboratory fees is approximately $35- $45 for each home.  This includes $35 for a laboratory fee to analyze each of 5 samples. 

• Any limits on scheduling of visits?  No.

• Any special supplies needed?  You can get most needed supplies at hardware or grocery stores. 

• Are there recognized/established standards?  The Federal Government has standards for lead-based paint (40 CFR 745.227(h)).  You can measure the lead by weight or by the amount in a square centimeter.  When analyzing loose paint samples, the lab will use the weight-based standard.

• How useful are the results?  The lab will give you a result that is a number; it is the percentage of lead by weight in the sample you sent them.  You can compare the lab results to the Federal standard of 0.5% lead.  A result that is equal to or greater than the standard is a lead paint hazard, which means that there is a current source of lead paint and likely lead dust in the apartment.  Residents should be given written results, along with materials describing how to control lead paint hazards.  Until a property owner fixes a lead dust problem, occupants can take steps to reduce lead in their home.  The results should also be given to the property owner with the consent of the resident.  The owner is required under federal regulations to disclose the information to future tenants and buyers. 

• Are there any safety concerns to the person who collects paint chips?  No, as long as clean up steps are followed.