Lead-based paint is hazardous to your health.

Lead-based paint is a major source of lead poisoning for children and can also affect adults. In
children, lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage and can impair mental functioning.
It can retard mental and physical development and reduce attention span. It can also retard fetal
development even at extremely low levels of lead. In adults, it can cause irritability, poor muscle
coordination, and nerve damage to the sense organs and nerves controlling the body. Lead
poisoning may also cause problems with reproduction (such as a decreased sperm count). It may
also increase blood pressure. Thus, young children, fetuses, infants, and adults with high blood
pressure are the most vulnerable to the effects of lead.

Children should be screened for lead poisoning.

In communities where the houses are old and deteriorating, take advantage of available
screening programs offered by local health departments and have children checked regularly to
see if they are suffering from lead poisoning. Because the early symptoms of lead poisoning are
easy to confuse with other illnesses, it is difficult to diagnose lead poisoning without medical
testing. Early symptoms may include persistent tiredness, irritability, loss of appetite, stomach
discomfort, reduced attention span, insomnia, and constipation. Failure to treat children in the
early stages can cause long-term or permanent health damage.

The current blood lead level which defines lead poisoning is 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of
blood. However, since poisoning may occur at lower levels than previously thought, various
federal agencies are considering whether this level should be lowered further so that lead
poisoning prevention programs will have the latest information on testing children for lead
poisoning.

Consumers can be exposed to lead from paint.

Eating paint chips is one way young children are exposed to lead. It is not the most common way
that consumers, in general, are exposed to lead. Ingesting and inhaling lead dust that is created
as lead-based paint "chalks," chips, or peels from deteriorated surfaces can expose consumers to
lead. Walking on small paint chips found on the floor, or opening and closing a painted frame
window, can also create lead dust. Other sources of lead include deposits that may be present in
homes after years of use of leaded gasoline and from industrial sources like smelting. Consumers
can also generate lead dust by sanding lead-based paint or by scraping or heating lead-based
paint.

Lead dust can settle on floors, walls, and furniture. Under these conditions, children can ingest
lead dust from hand-to-mouth con- tact or in food. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air through
cleaning, such as sweeping or vacuuming, or by movement of people throughout the house.

Older homes may contain lead based paint.

Lead was used as a pigment and drying agent in "alkyd" oil based paint. "Latex" water based
paints generally have not contained lead. About two-thirds of the homes built before 1940 and
one-half of the homes built from 1940 to 1960 contain heavily-leaded paint. Some homes built
after 1960 also contain heavily-leaded paint. It may be on any interior or exterior surface,
particularly on woodwork, doors, and windows. In 1978, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission lowered the legal maximum lead content in most kinds of paint to 0.06% (a trace
amount). Consider having the paint in homes constructed before the 1980s tested for lead before
renovating or if the paint or underlying surface is deteriorating. This is particularly important if
infants, children, or pregnant women are present.

Consumers can have paint tested for lead.

There are do-it-yourself kits available. However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
has not evaluated any of these kits. One home test kit uses sodium sulfide solution. This
procedure requires you to place a drop of sodium sulfide solution on a paint chip. The paint chip
slowly turns darker if lead is present. There are problems with this test, however. Other metals
may cause false positive results, and resins in the paint may prevent the sulfide from causing the
paint chip to change color. Thus, the presence of lead may not be correctly indicated. In addition
the darkening may be detected only on very light-colored paint.

Another in-home test requires a trained professional who can operate the equipment safely. This
test uses X-ray fluorescence to determine if the paint contains lead. Although the test can be
done in your home, it should be done only by professionals trained by the equipment
manufacturer or who have passed a state or local government training course, since the
equipment contains radioactive materials. In addition, in some tests, the method has not been
reliable.

Consumers may choose to have a testing laboratory test a paint sample for lead. Lab testing is
considered more reliable than other methods. Lab tests may cost from $20 to $50 per sample. To
have the lab test for lead paint, consumers may:

• Get sample containers from the lab or use re-sealable plastic bags. Label the containers
or bags with the consumer's name and the location in the house from which each paint
sample was taken. Several samples should be taken from each affected room (see HUD
Guidelines discussed below).

• Use a sharp knife to cut through the edges of the sample paint. The lab should tell you
the size of the sample needed. It will probably be about 2 inches by 2 inches.

• Lift off the paint with a clean putty knife and put it into the container. Be sure to take a
sample of all layers of paint, since only the lower layers may contain lead. Do not include
any of the underlying wood, plaster, metal, and brick.

• Wipe the surface and any paint dust with a wet cloth or paper towel and discard the cloth
or towel.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recommends that action to
reduce exposure should be taken when the lead in paint is greater than 0.5% by lab testing or
greater than 1.0 milligrams per square centimeter by X-ray fluorescence. Action is especially
important when paint is deteriorating or when infants, children, or pregnant women are present.
Consumers can reduce exposure to lead-based paint.

If you have lead-based paint, you should take steps to reduce your exposure to lead. You can:

1. Have the painted item replaced.

You can replace a door or other easily removed item if you can do it without creating lead dust.
Items that are difficult to remove should be replaced by professionals who will control and contain
lead dust.
2. Cover the lead-based paint.

You can spray the surface with a sealant or cover it with gypsum wallboard. However, painting
over lead-based paint with non-lead paint is not a long-term solution. Even though the lead-based
paint may be covered by non-lead paint, the lead-based paint may continue to loosen from the
surface below and create lead dust. The new paint may also partially mix with the lead-based
paint, and lead dust will be released when the new paint begins to deteriorate.
3. Have the lead-based paint removed.
Have professionals trained in removing lead-based paint do this work. Each of the paint-removal
methods (sandpaper, scrapers, chemicals, sandblasters, and torches or heat guns) can produce
lead fumes or dust. Fumes or dust can become airborne and be inhaled or ingested. Wet
methods help reduce the amount of lead dust. Removing moldings, trim, window sills, and other
painted surfaces for professional paint stripping outside the home may also create dust. Be sure
the professionals contain the lead dust. Wet-wipe all surfaces to remove any dust or paint chips.
Wet-clean the area before re-entry.
You can remove a small amount of lead-based paint if you can avoid creating any dust. Make
sure the surface is less than about one square foot (such as a window sill). Any job larger than
about one square foot should be done by professionals. Make sure you can use a wet method
(such as a liquid paint stripper).
4. Reduce lead dust exposure.

You can periodically wet mop and wipe surfaces and floors with a high phosphorous (at least 5%)
cleaning solution. Wear waterproof gloves to prevent skin irritation. Avoid activities that will
disturb or damage lead based paint and create dust. This is a preventive measure and is not an
alternative to replacement or removal.
Professionals are available to remove, replace, or cover lead-based paint.

Contact your state and local health departments lead poisoning prevention programs and housing
authorities for information about testing labs and contractors who can safely remove lead-based
paint.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepared guidelines for
removing lead-based paint which were published in the Federal Register, April 18, 1990, page
1455614614. Ask contractors about their qualifications, experience removing lead-based paint,
and plans to follow these guidelines.

• Consumers should keep children and other occupants (especially infants, pregnant
women, and adults with high blood pressure) out of the work area until the job is
completed.
• Consumers should remove all food and eating utensils from the work area.
• Contractors should remove all furniture, carpets, and drapes and seal the work area from
the rest of the house. The contractor also should cover and seal the floor unless lead
paint is to be removed from the floor.
• Contractors should assure that workers wear respirators designed to avoid inhaling lead.
• Contractors should not allow eating or drinking in the work area. Contractors should
cover and seal all cabinets and food contact surfaces.
• Contractors should dispose of clothing worn in the room after working. Workers should
not wear work clothing in other areas of the house. The contractor should launder work
clothes separately.
• Contractors should clean up debris using special vacuum cleaners with HEPA (high
efficiency particulate air) filters and should use a wet mop after vacuuming.
• Contractors should dispose of lead-based paint waste and contaminated materials in
accordance with state and local regulations.

Government officials and health professionals continue to develop advice about removing lead-
based paint. Watch for future publications by government agencies, health departments, and
other groups concerned with lead-paint removal and prevention of lead poisoning.

009009
Lead petrol banned.
Publication: Australasian Business Intelligence

Date: Wednesday, January 2 2002

Dec 30, 2001 (The Canberra Times

ABIX via COMTEX) -- The sale of lead petrol in Australia will become illegal as from 2 January
2002. The ban is expected to improve vehicle emissions by around two-thirds. Service stations
that are found guilty of selling lead petrol will face fines of up to $A110,000, while companies face
fines of as much as $A500,000. Australian Environment Minister, David Kemp, said that the new
laws would lead to an improvement in air quality. It has long been known that lead can cause
health problems, and there appears to be a link between high lead

LRP - or Lead Replacement Petrol is a fuel developed to provide an alternative to petrol

(gasoline) that contains a substance know as Tetra-ethyl lead (TEL), a compound of lead
in liquid form originally added to petrol to increase its octane rating. A side effect of
adding TEL is that a layer of lead compounds forms on the valve faces of the engine,
retarding wear.

Lead is very toxic and lead compounds in exhaust gases escape into the atmosphere
causing pollution. Impacts on human health are widely documented. This led to the
introduction of lead-free petrol.

With normal lead-free petrol an adjustment to the engine's ignition timing solved pre-
detonation problems (pinking) caused by the lower octane rating, but this did nothing to
prevent accelerated valve wear. The use of lead in petrol had allowed the machining of
valve seats directly in the cast iron or aluminium cylinder heads (or block of side-valve
engines). Over time these seats would heat up, erode and even micro-weld the valve to
the seat causing rapid damage.

LRP (Lead Replacement Petrol) was introduced containing other metal salts (such as
potassium or manganese) to address the issue of valve wear.

Many people are aware of the lead in petrol and are concerned about what effect it may have on
the health of their family. This is especially so if they live on a busy road or their child attends a
childcare centre in a "heavy traffic" area. The Lead Advisory Service (NSW) will answer any
questions that you may have about lead, but here are some automotive "lead" facts of interest.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has set an Australian National Goal for ALL
Australians to have a blood lead level below 10 µg/dL (micrograms per decilitre). For every
10µg/dL of lead in the blood, experts agree, that a child is at risk of losing between 2-3 IQ points.
Lead also damages kidneys, hearing and physical growth. It causes learning difficulties,
behavioural problems, tooth decay and many other long term serious health effects.

Children under the age of seven years are particularly at risk of damage because their brains and
nervous systems are still developing. Between 36,600 and 221,620 NSW preschoolers are
estimated to have blood lead levels above 10µg/dL.

Allowing $5,190 in additional remedial education costs, lost earning potential and additional
health costs per IQ point lost, means that the estimated cost to the community is between $303
million and $2.8 billion.

This does not include older children, adults or the cost of even higher blood lead concentrations! (
Source: NSW EPA)

PETROL

The fallout from leaded petrol exhaust fumes not only pollutes the air we breathe with microscopic
lead particles (amongst other pollutants), it is also responsible for adding to the lead content of
household dust, soil and ceiling void dust in our homes. Because of their extra hand to mouth
activity this dust is a major contamination pathway for small children, especially during renovation
or demolition of pre 1970 buildings when the dust from areas such as roof voids or wall cavities is
released. Add to this dust, the risk from lead paint that may also be disturbed during works, and
you have a typical case of a young urban child - lead poisoned by the combination of sources of
lead - paint, petrol and industry.

A recent Public Health Unit study found that children's blood lead levels rise 1 µg/dL for every
10,000 cars per day going past their childcare centre. (Cowie study, Sydney 1996).

Every gram of lead from petrol, put into the environment now is adding to the thousands of tons of
lead from petrol which already contaminates our cities. So the lead petrol problem is not "going
away" we're simply slowing down the rate of further contamination of our children's environment.

Over 100,000 (40%) cars in NSW could be using unleaded petrol (ULP), but are still using
leaded. The NRMA recently published an article to help counter the lead additive manufacturers
media campaigns which try to persuade people that leaded petrol is safer than unleaded. The
levels of benzene in leaded and unleaded petrol in Australia are essentially the same. Overseas
examples are not relevant to Australia and their situation is NOT OURS.

(Source: NRMA - Open Road March, 1996)

Check if your pre 1986 car is one that can immediately switch to ULP.

Since 1993 the Federal government has made $352 million from the leaded fuel tax which was
levied because of the recognised health and environment risks attributable to lead. This money
could be used to subsidise the more environmentally friendly MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether)
additive and lead education campaigns. At the moment this lead fuel tax goes to consolidated
revenue and less than 1% has been spent on dealing directly with lead.

Old cars would not have to be retired and the new MTBE fuel need not be any more expensive
for consumers than leaded fuel is now.

They would just switch to the new product and everyone's lead levels would start to decrease
accordingly. There is ample evidence to suggest that the general lead body burden of the
population reduces in line with the reduction of lead in petrol. This has been shown to occur
dramatically in other countries where lead has been removed from petrol.

Australian children are still dying and permanently injuring their health by sniffing petrol. Although
sniffing any petrol is harmful to health, its the lead in petrol that kills or leaves petrol sniffers with
permanent brain damage. Transport plans need updating to encourage public transport and
reduce the overall need to travel by car. The gains made in Sydney's air quality by the
introduction of ULP and catalytic converters are being overtaken by the increase in the number of
cars and the distance travelled annually by each car. The amount of Australia's greenhouse gas
emissions produced by motor vehicles is 21%. Britain has recently made radical changes to its
transport policy to reduce dependence on the car, halving the budget for new roads.

The heavy metal pollution of Sydney Harbour is considered to be contributed to significantly by

urban run off, including the substantial amount of leaded petrol exhaust particles which settle on
roadways and are eventually washed into stormwater drains and then our Harbour. Sydney
waterway sediments have mineable levels of lead and other heavy metals.

In August 1997 the new Clean Air Regulations were passed and leaded fuel can contain a
maximum of 0.2 g/L. Unleaded petrol can contain 0.013 g/L. Shell half lead contains 0.1 g/L
Australia is at risk of becoming the last developed country to ban lead in petrol. Leaded petrol
was banned in Japan in 1986, Austria in 1990, Canada 1993, the US in 1995 and New Zealand in
1996 and yet our Federal Government is considering waiting until 2010!

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Plastic waste can be used for constructing

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Researchers at the Banaras Hindu

University (BHU) claim to have found a new way for disposing of plastic waste, mainly
polythene bags, by using them for construction of long-lasting, water-proof roads.

"In our research we observed that polythene bags could immensely enhance the durability
of roads," Ram Adhar Singh, a professor with BHU's chemistry department who led the
research, said.

Buoyed by the new technique of managing polythene waste, the researchers now plan to
get it patented.
"In our research, we used polythene bags after giving them a specific mechanised heat
treatment along with coal-tar, pieces of stones and other materials required for
constructing roads and got favourable results," said Singh, who is an alumnus of the
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur.

According to the researchers, roads of coal-tar and stones lose their strength due to water-
logging. Coal-tar, which is organic in nature, cannot gel effectively with stones that have
inorganic properties, resulting in cracks and potholes when water-logged.

"But when polythene, which is organic in nature, is used after the heat treatment, it forms
a layer on the stones. As the inorganic stones get the organic covering they effectively
bind with coal-tar," explained Singh, who has been teaching chemistry for over 25 years.

According to researchers, polythene, coal-tar and small stone pieces are used in a specific
proportion. And at a temperature between 120 and 130 degrees Celsius, polythene forms
a layer over pieces of stones and prevents the roads from wear and tear in case of water-
logging.

The widespread use of polythene is posing a major environmental hazard as it is not bio-
degradable. This method now provides a new window of opportunity for proper
management of polythene.

Following the unique method, residents of Ashok Puram in Varanasi where Singh lives,
have started collecting polythene for making roads in their colony.

The residents have approached Singh to get the road built for them by using the new
technique.

IANS
What are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)?

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of more than 100 different
chemicals that are released from burning coal, oil, gasoline, trash, tobacco, wood, or
other organic substances such as charcoal-broiled meat. They are also called polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons. They can occur naturally when they are released from forest fires
and volcanoes, and can be manufactured. Other activities that release PAHs include
driving, agricultural burning, roofing or working with coal tar products, sound- and
water-proofing, coating pipes, steelmaking, and paving with asphalt.

Manufactured PAHs are colorless, white, or pale yellow solids. Some can take the form
of needles, plates, crystals, or prisms.

PAHs are found in the asphalt that covers roads and parking lots, and in smoke and soot.
They are also found in coal tar, coal tar pitch, and creosotes, which are by-products of
distilling and heating coal and some woods. Coal tar products are used in medicines for
skin diseases such as psoriasis, and in insecticides, fungicides, and pesticides. Coal tar
creosote is widely used for wood preservation. Coal tar and coal tar pitch are used for
roofing, road paving, aluminum smelting, and production of coke, a coal residue used as
fuel.

Some PAHs are used to make medicines, dyes, plastics, and pesticides.

How might I be exposed to PAHs?

You can be exposed to PAHs primarily by breathing polluted air, wood smoke, vehicle
exhaust, or cigarette smoke; eating contaminated food; or drinking contaminated water.
You can breathe PAHs outside when they are attached to dust and other particles in the
air. Outdoor sources of PAHs include soot, smoke, cigarette smoke, vehicle exhaust,
asphalt roads, wildfires, volcanoes, agricultural or wood burning, municipal and
industrial waste incineration, and releases from hazardous waste sites. You can also be
exposed to PAHs in the soil near areas where coal, wood, gasoline, or other products
have been burned, or in the soil at hazardous waste sites, former manufactured gas
factory sites, and wood-preserving facilities.

At home, you can be exposed to PAHs if you breathe cigarette smoke, burn wood, eat
grilled or charred meats, drink contaminated water or milk, eat contaminated foods, use
medicines made with PAHs, use pesticides, or use wood products treated with creosote.
You may be exposed to creosote if you eat herbal dietary supplements which contain the
leaves of the creosote bush, called chaparral.
At work, you can be exposed to PAHs if you work at a coal tar, aluminum, or asphalt
production plant; smokehouse; foundry; engine repair shop; trash incinerator; coal
gasification site; or farm where agricultural burning and pesticide application takes place.
You can be exposed if you work in coking, mining, gas or oil refining, metalworking,
chemical production, iron or steel production, wood preserving, coal tarring, roofing,
transportation, cooking or catering, and the electrical industry. You can be exposed if you
work as a roof tarrer, asphalt applicator, or chimney sweep, or use creosote-treated wood.

How can PAHs affect my health?

Of the more than 100 forms of PAHs, 15 are classified as carcinogens, according to the
Eleventh Report on Carcinogens, published by the National Toxicology Program,
because exposure to these PAHs is linked to lung, liver, and skin cancers.

Exposure to large amounts of coal tar creosote may result in convulsions,

unconsciousness, and even death. Breathing vapors of coal tar, coal tar pitch, and
creosote can irritate the respiratory tract. Eating large amounts of herbal supplements that
contain creosote leaves may cause liver damage.

If you think your health has been affected by exposure to PAHs, contact your health care
professional.

For poison emergencies or questions about possible poisons, contact your local poison
control center at 1-800-222-1222.

This description is based on the information found in the Web links listed with this topic.