The Safety Essentials to Know About Asbestos and Lead Paint in Your Home
Note: For more information and special deals related to the topics on this page, place your cursor over the double-underlined words. All information supplied by Kontera.com.
The Safety Essentials to Know About Asbestos and Lead Paint in Your home.
If your home was built before 1987, it may contain asbestos around furnaces, pipes, heat ducts, and boilers; in the adhesive and backing beneath your linoleum floors; and in "cottage-cheese" ceilings.
The dust of this carcinogen can cause serious lung ailments when inhaled.
If the asbestos is in your garage near the furnace and you rarely go there, you should simply be aware of it and regularly check its condition.
Asbestos generally is not a safety problem unless it's disturbed (by a leak in the roof or a child's bouncing ball for example).
If it's crumbling or otherwise in poor condition, hire a licensed contractor experienced in asbestos removal to seal it, repair it, or get it out of your home.
Lead Paint
Lead paint - commonly found in homes that were built before 1980 - can escape as dust during cleaning, and if enough is ingested or inhaled, it can cause permanent brain damage and other serious harm, especially to children, mothers-to-be and older adults.
If you live in an older home, consider hiring a professional to conduct a hazard assessment.
To check for lead yourself, chip off a bit of suspect paint - right down to the bare wood - and then either send it to a laboratory for analysis or buy an inexpensive test kit at a hardware store.
If you do find leaded paint, cover the area with wallpaper, paneling, or new lead-free paint.
Frequently wash children's hands, faces, toys and pacifier to reduce their exposure to dust containing lead.
Once tainted surfaces are covered, they are considered safe unless they chip or peel.
10 Steps to a Safer Home
Essentials for Your Home First-Aid Kit
Securing Your Home Against Common Household Accidents
How to Childproof Your Home
Disaster Preparedness: Make Sure Your Family is Ready
Tips for Keeping Records to Safeguard Valuables
Locked Up: Is Your Home Safe?
Secure Your Family Against Fire and Smoke
Return to Safety at Home
If you find this website useful, please consider helping with its production with a donation of $10. To say 'thank you' for your generosity, we will give you the info packed e-book for parents considering a family pet – and those who already have one – “Taming the Family Zoo”. Your link to this info-packed, 27-page e-book will be sent to you with your donation receipt.
|
