|
Lead Paint Inspection
Lead paint inspection is one of the tasks required by the US
government and many of its states to evaluate properties for
lead-based paint. It is one of two testing procedures that are
outlined by the guidelines released by the Housing and Urban
Development or HUD. A lead paint inspector will evaluate the
property to identify areas where lead-based paint was applied.
The pre-1978 era is characterized by houses painted with lead-based
paints. Paints were previously added with lead pigment to increase
the durability of the paint, retain its fresh look, speed-up its
drying, and avoid corrosion by preventing the onset of moisture.
When the mixing of lead pigment to paint was banned in 1978 by US
Consumer Product Safety Commission, the lead-based paint was then
restricted to application on parking lines and roadways. Despite the
ban issued for the lead-based paint, there are still paints laced
with lead pigment marketed to the public. Because of this,
inspecting the paint job of properties became a standard procedure
as a health precaution to the public.
The lead paint inspection is not limited to the inspection of the
existing paint jobs of old houses. Inspectors also conduct lab
analysis of the dust, soil and water of the surroundings to confirm
that the lead has not been exposed to the environment. Inspectors
will also not harm the appearance of the paint job because they can
use special X-ray equipment to identify the lead content. This
equipment use a non-destructive sampling method to assess the paint.
Current equipment used for lead paint inspection is the XRF
instrument. XRF stands for X-ray Fluorescence that makes it possible
for inspectors to acquire fluorescence emission from a material with
the use of gamma ray bombardment.
Lead paint inspection services are readily available from the
Internet. Some websites even include other testing procedures as
well as lead-safe work practices for use.
|
