[Judy Pino] 
Are you and your family 
protected from lead?
Silent and unseen, lead 
poisoning can affect
your children's future, causing 
life-long difficulties in their
ability to think 
and learn.
And it's not just children 
who are at risk.
Hello and welcome 
to Green Scene,
EPA's environmental podcast 
series that you can take
with you.
I'm Judy Pino.
This week is Lead Poison 
Prevention Week,
and to tell us more about this 
very important issue is
Jim Gulliford, EPA's assistant 
administrator for
Prevention, Pesticides, 
and Toxic Substances.
Welcome, Jim, always 
good to have you.
[Jim Gulliford] 
Thank you, Judy.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, let's go straight to 
this year's campaign,
which is "Let's Wipe Out Lead 
Poisoning: Renovate Right."
Why is that the focus of the 
campaign this year, renovating?
[Jim Gulliford] 
Sure, our concern is that 
when we renovate our homes,
if they're pre-1978 housing, 
that in the work that's done,
dust can be generated 
that may contain lead.
If that dust is generated and 
allowed to spread through our
house, our children come 
in contact with it,
they can ingest it and end up 
with elevated blood lead levels,
a very serious 
health problem.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, back in March, EPA 
announced new requirements
to protect children 
from lead poisoning.
Let's talk a little 
bit about that.
[Jim Gulliford] 
This is our "Lead: Renovation 
and Repair" rule,
and what it does, it has a set 
of prohibited practices,
practices that we don't want 
being used by renovators when
they're repairing homes, 
such as, again,
the hot guns that 
peel off paint,
whether it's high-powered 
sanders, those types of
things that generate 
a lot of dust.
But then there are also 
a lot of required
lead-safety practices 
to contain an area,
to keep the lead from spreading 
through the home and to make
sure that when the renovation is 
done, that the area is cleaned
up properly and, again, 
children are protected.
[Judy Pino] 
What evidence does the EPA have 
that renovating and repairing
and painting activities 
can cause an increase
in lead poisoning?
[Jim Gulliford] 
We've done a number
of studies.
Back in 2000 we did a study 
that looked at the presence
of elevated blood lead 
levels among children
after renovation activities, 
and we found that it was
roughly 30 percent more likely 
that children would have
elevated blood lead levels 
after renovation than
in the absence of those 
renovation activities.
So we clearly saw a connection 
between renovation and
children's elevated 
blood lead levels.
And this year, or roughly in 
2007, we did another study
that looked at whether or not we 
could develop a set of practices
that could contain the 
dust caused during these
renovation activities in a way 
that would protect children.
We found that there are 
effective ways, again,
to protect children 
during renovation.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, what can we do 
to protect children?
[Jim Gulliford] 
Okay, the thing that we want 
to do is make sure that when
we do our renovation in 
the presence of lead,
that we contain the area, 
in other words,
we hang plastic, we make sure 
that children are not allowed
into rooms where renovation is 
occurring, and that the air
movement is contained in those 
areas so we don't get dust
spread out amongst, again, 
the other rooms of a house.
Secondly, we have 
prohibited practices.
Again, I mentioned these flame 
guns that actually can be used
to remove paint, but also some 
of the power tools that are
used, whether it's in 
scraping, sanding,
that, again, you naturally 
can understand,
would generate 
a lot of dust.
So those are prohibited 
practices.
Those are the types of things 
that we can do to make sure
that dust isn't generated or 
lead isn't brought into the
atmosphere, which, again, 
would cause children to
have elevated 
lead levels.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, how would I know if a 
contractor has left any
dust behind after
a job is done?
[Jim Gulliford] 
Sure, we have clean-up 
requirements that are done.
First of all, our contractors 
are certified that they
understand these practices 
that have to occur.
When the job is done, all of 
the walls have to be cleaned.
They have to be HEPA Vaced 
to make sure, again,
that any presence of 
dust is eliminated.
And after all of the clean-up 
process is done,
we have a wipe sampling 
that must be done again
by the certified contractor.
They take wipes of all of the 
surface areas and look at
the cloths to determine if there 
is any presence of dust left.
If there's still dust present, 
then these same cleaning
processes have 
to be repeated.
Again, we can make sure 
that by doing that,
that, again, the house is clean 
and ready for children to come
back into it.
[Judy Pino] 
So, after all of this, 
let's talk about the
actual health effects that 
lead has on children,
and why should people become 
more concerned about exposure?
[Jim Gulliford] 
Sure.
Children, first of all, are more 
susceptible to lead poisoning.
In other words, their bodies 
are growing faster,
and if they ingest lead, there 
can be learning problems.
There can be neurological 
problems associated with it,
and they can get very 
serious headaches.
And even ultimately, 
but very rarely,
children can die from, 
again, lead exposures.
However, at the same time, 
we're also concerned for
other people in 
the presence.
Adults can be affected 
by lead ingestion,
and certainly pregnant women, 
because, again, the child,
or the baby, pre-birth, 
can be affected if a woman,
a pregnant woman, does, again, 
have lead exposures.
[Judy Pino] 
So, you mentioned early 
detection being key.
What should someone do if they 
suspect lead poisoning?
[Jim Gulliford] 
Go right to a clinic.
It's a very simple 
blood test.
A little bit of blood is drawn, 
and they can determine if there
is the presence of 
lead in the blood.
If there is, the doctor will 
know immediately whether
more testing is appropriate 
or whether a treatment might
be necessary.
[Judy Pino] 
And what is the best way, Jim, 
to detect lead in our homes?
[Jim Gulliford] 
First of all, to be 
aware of it.
That's one of the reasons 
that we're doing this,
is that people, if you're 
looking at buying a house,
or if you own a house that 
was built prior to 1978,
or if you're moving into an 
apartment that is of that
age, there's a possibility 
that the paint that was
used in that house or that 
apartment may contain lead.
So, first of all, 
be knowledgeable.
And you can also, if you're 
concerned that it might be
in effect, you can actually 
have your house tested.
You can take little paint 
chips and those can be
tested to determine if there 
is lead in that paint.
And also you can do a risk 
analysis to determine
if your paint is chipping, 
if it's being rubbed,
if it's flaking, 
that type of thing.
You can test for the presence 
of lead not only in the paint
itself but in 
your home.
And you can get advice on how to 
clean it up and make sure that,
again, your children 
are protected.
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, that sounds 
pretty easy.
Let's talk about some tips that 
people can follow to protect
their families 
from lead.
[Jim Gulliford] 
Sure, again, we're most 
concerned, obviously,
with our youngest children 
because they're they ones
that have the hand-to-mouth 
activities that are a part
of their learning
process.
So, when you're children 
are getting ready to eat,
make sure that they 
wash their hands.
You do that anyway, 
but that, again,
if there is lead present 
and they start eating,
then, again, they're not getting 
a little bit of lead with the
food that 
they eat.
Secondly, before they go to bed, 
because, again, children will
put their hands or their fingers 
in their mouths when they're
sleeping or as they're 
going to bed.
So, times like that, make sure 
you keep your children's
hands clean.
But then also clean 
your home as well.
Be especially concerned 
about places where lead
could accumulate, 
on window sills,
where there could be, again, 
flaking of paint chips.
Those types of areas, 
clean them regularly,
at least once or twice 
a week, with a sponge,
a good cleaning solution, 
to make sure we eliminate
all of the lead that may 
be present in a very
available form.
Do your floors as well 
with a wet mop.
[Judy Pino] 
And of course, talking about 
children, if your children
eat healthy, well, they're less 
likely to absorb lead.
[Jim Gulliford] 
Absolutely.
Again, a good diet for your 
children makes them less
likely to actually absorb 
lead that they may consume
into their body, 
into their bloodstream,
and eventually get 
into their blood.
So feed your children well, 
keep them healthy,
keep them protected, 
and we'll have safe kids.
[Judy Pino] 
Sounds like common
sense to me.
[Jim Gulliford] 
Very good.
[Judy Pino] 
Thank you, Jim, for visiting, 
letting us know about this
very important issue.
[Jim Gulliford] 
Thank you.
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, and for more information 
on lead poison prevention,
please visit www.epa.gov/lead.