Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 30, 2012 10:41 am Ok I have been in ''freak out mode'' from reading perhaps too much about lead hazards. A couple of months back we got shutters installed in our 1958 home. Not thinking much of it, they drilled/cut through the walls to fit the electrical swtiches (about 10 X7 cm) X 5 rooms. They left a big mess all over the carpet, paint, disintegrated plaster etc. This was done in my toddler son's room, around his toy shelf etc. My only reaction afterwards was to take out my electrolux hepa vac and get rid of as much as I could off the carpets. DIdnt think much of any lead dangers till recently when my neighbours started doing lead abatment. Now I am totally freaked out, is there lead dust still in my carpets? What about the furniture/toys etc? Do i get my son tested? I am also 6 weeks pregnant which doesnt help much with my stress!! And had electricians in removing old switches and leaving a heap of paint chips on the floor to clean up. My question is.. assuming there is lead in the paint*, does anyone have the knowledge to tell me to not worry about the amount generated from this? Do i throw out all the toys where they drilled over? is vacuming suficient? Is household HEPA good enough? Do i approach the shutters company and request they replace the items they ''contaminated''.. These guys cut through our asbestos eaves too which is another story! Argh *I did test, but because the walls were orignially orange where i was testing, I had no idea if i did it right.. hard to tell. and the lead test kit should really say orange or dark yellow.. not red /pink :p ) Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 2Nov 30, 2012 2:49 pm If it were only a few switches/not much work done then I woudn't worry about it. There is probably more pollution in the atmosphere than what the tradies generated, but that's just my opinion with no professional basis at all. Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 3Nov 30, 2012 4:30 pm Even without a test if the house is so old assume there will be some layers of lead paint. I'm really sorry you're going through this. It's not very good but I'm sure it's nowhere near as bad as your protective instincts make you feel. The sad thing is there's going to be more potential hazards which despite the awareness of lead being around since I was a young mum it still keeps happening. For instance somebody told me a while back that lead has been found in vinyl bags. Say what? I did a google search and found its been reported overseas so its not just one of those scare rumours that go around with not much factual basis. As far as I can tell people haven't been warned about it in Australia though. Does anybody here worry if their toddler plays with or chews on their handbag or their nappy bag? That furniture if it's painted imported furniture and those toys if they're vinyl might already have lead in them anyway. Vinyls might have toxic phthalate in them too. They shouldn't but things like that keep getting through even in countries with much stricter rules than what Australia has got so how do you know for sure? I don't want to worry you. I think it helps to remember what happened with the shutters only happened once and you cleaned up afterwards (you didn't take the vac outside and use it on where they cut the eaves did you?). But knowing about what to watch for and be careful of helps make things better for everybody in the future. I think you should tell the company about your concerns. It's a OH&S issue for their workers too. They ought to be thinking about things like that and they need to know it's something their customers think about too. Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 4Nov 30, 2012 5:37 pm Thanks guys. I just wish there was some ''common sense'' or ''perspective'' pieces where they can tell you: this is harmful, but dont worry more than passing by a passive smoker every now and again, or no this is terrible, you need to clean up again.. Regarding vacuming outside, should I? I am assuming the answer is no as not to suck in the asbestos which I am hoping would flown away as they drilled. Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 5Nov 30, 2012 5:53 pm and i just googled the vinyl handbag thing. Arggh i dont know where to run! This is terrible! Are you saying imported furniture from reputable store (target etc) would contain lead? Dont they havee codes even for imported stuff (which is everything)? Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 6Nov 30, 2012 8:32 pm Mimz Thanks guys. I just wish there was some ''common sense'' or ''perspective'' pieces where they can tell you: this is harmful, but dont worry more than passing by a passive smoker every now and again, or no this is terrible, you need to clean up again.. Regarding vacuming outside, should I? I am assuming the answer is no as not to suck in the asbestos which I am hoping would flown away as they drilled. Do NOT vacuum asbestos. There's government websites that tell you how to handle it with percautions like wetting it down and wrapping it. Do you know for sure its asbestos? Is there still sawdust laying around? Mimz and i just googled the vinyl handbag thing. Arggh i dont know where to run! This is terrible! Are you saying imported furniture from reputable store (target etc) would contain lead? Dont they havee codes even for imported stuff (which is everything)? Australia does not have regulations about all types of nasties that other countries do consumer recalls for. Standards are slowly improving for example there's formeldehyde limits for Australian mdf but as far as I know imports still don't have to meet the same limits. I don't know what furniture from a store like Target etc would contain but the problem is I don't think they know either, they're only the importers not the manufacturers, and if somebody noticed something but it doesn't break any Australian rules what can you make them do about it anyway? The only store I know that sells imported furniture and homewares and makes health and environmental claims is Ikea and thats because they are European based. Re: Lead Paint Saftey- HELP! 7Dec 14, 2012 11:14 pm While reading the online news I remembered this thread. Something else to bear in mind in this season when end-of-year parties and performances could perhaps involve facepaints. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-20727513 We as consumers can make things safer but we have to educate ourselves and to make our expectations clear to suppliers. Getting off soap box now. Thankyou so much 😀 I've decided on White on white for doors and trims, White on white 50% on ceiling and Mt buller for walls. Fingers crossed it will look OK 😀 2 7158 Thank you. That is really helpful. Once we get the place done and passed for OC we can upgrade in the future once we get back on our feet and not paying mortgage and rent. 4 5727 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi there, I just recently received my new house from my builder. We handed the house to another company to deal with the… 0 8910 |