PERTH RENOVATORS – ARE YOU SAFE FROM HAZARDOUS DUST IN YOUR HOME?

Attention all Perth home renovators, DIY enthusiasts, builders and handymen (and handy women!)… you may be at risk.

Much has been said and written about the risks involved in working with asbestos, but another issue, that of exposure to the common household metal, lead – can also be extremely dangerous. Exposure to lead can be harmful to your health, causing long-term problems.

The most common source of lead dust is from paint in older buildings, so people in the building trade who may be demolishing, renovating or fixing up older buildings can be at real risk. People living in older buildings are also potentially at risk – pets too – with pregnant women and younger children the highest risk groups.

Older houses and buildings are more likely to have lead paint on the walls and woodwork. Up until the early seventies, lead based paint was common, and although it isn’t generally problematic if it is in good condition, the risks increase when it starts to peel, chip and crack or during building works. Lead dust can also be found in attics, cavity walls and under the floorboards, so the risk of contamination increases if people are renovating their home in ways that involve demolishing ceilings and cavity walls, adding another storey, putting in an attic ladder or intruding into the roof space eg installing a skylight.

When renovating or building, people are advised not to dry scrape, heat (with a blowtorch etc) or use a sanding machine on lead based paint as that can result in the formation of lead dust. It’s also possible that dust forms when lead-painted surfaces bump together, including old painted furniture. Some places have DIY kits available for testing paint, but the best result is to get qualified professionals to inspect and assess the risks and then use the right equipment and hazardous dust asbestos and lead vacuum cleaners to clean up.

And merely painting over the problem will not eliminate the risk. So if you think you could be at risk, or the workplace you’re in could be affected by lead dust, it’s advisable to enlist the help of experts who have specialized equipment for hazardous dust removal.

These vacuum machines are heavy duty but lightweight, made from tough materials so that they are virtually indestructible and suited to rough and heavy duty cleaning. They can be moved around easily and have special features that enable them to reach into confined areas such as inside a ceiling or roof.

According to a leading supplier of hazardous dust machines Perth, these are not only used on building sites– they’re in high demand anywhere there is a cleaning application including hospitals and operating theatres, in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry etc. And on the subject of hospitals, it’s interesting to note that in Australia, in nearly all of the cases where children had been admitted to hospital for treatment for lead poisoning, the lead had come from dust during home renovations – news that every builder and parent should heed.

And if you’re taking notes while you’re reading this …and you suddenly realise that you’re chewing on your LEAD pencil – relax! ’Lead’ pencils do not contain lead – it’s graphite that is the black bit in the middle – and it’s 100% safe. But it may not be the case at your building site or at home, so make sure you clean up all your hazardous dust properly and effectively.