How dangerous is lead in apartments in pre war buildings? (lease, tenants)

[nycer777]

How dangerous is lead? I know there are certain rules in place for kids because its more dangerous for their developing brains and bodies, but how about adults?

My landlord recently applied sheetrock to a bedroom in a vacant apartment after it tested positive for lead because tenants with a child are moving in. I asked for the same thing when I re-did my lease (mostly because the walls are terrible) and he said no because I have no children in the apt. So am I just living with lead and its ok because there are no children in the apartment?

If I have my place tested independently and theres dangerously high levels of lead, do I have any recourse at all?

[Kefir King]

It's overblown.

The problem was with kids eating paint chips. When I was a kid I never dreamed of chewing on peeling paint. Does ANYONE know any kids who eat old paint?

[nightcrawler]

I too think it is all pure BS.

Number one, all these old buildings have lead paint, but have probably been painted over about a billion times already.

I never thought about eating paint chips as a kid either.
I never lived in an apartment with peeling paint in the first place.


and my children never ate paint chips, or picked the walls, or window ledges, let alone licked the walls.

i think this lead paint crap is so blown out of proportion.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Kefir King

It's overblown.

The problem was with kids eating paint chips. When I was a kid I never dreamed of chewing on peeling paint. Does ANYONE know any kids who eat old paint?

answer: No.

[a l'ouest]

I used to babysit a little girl that used to pick at wall corners and eat the paint chips. I also know of a child that used to eat napkins when she was younger. Kids do weird things.

[LadyR1990]

You have to lick the paint in order to get lead poisoning. That's why you can't use it to paint toys.

[Kefir King]

You cannot protect stupid kids against everything.
Are we too make sure all electrical outlets are 6 feet up the wall to prevent lids licking them, along with the roach spray on the woodwork? What about a kid eating an SOS pad? Making sure pencils only have dull points and are 2 inches wide so kids cannot stick them into their ears? And keep all ball point pens under lock and key?

The powers that be have condemned lead and asbestos so that they can give the APPEARANCE of giving a s**t about environmental health.

[nybbler]

If you have lead dust it can get all over everything, including things you normally put in your mouth (food, your toothbrush, etc). This wouldn't be from just having lead paint, it can be from renovation/demolition occurring in your building or even outdoors nearby if you have your windows open. But as long as you're not sanding and scraping, the paint on the walls won't affect you at all.

As for electrical outlets, they're all required to be tamper resistant in residences now, which is stupid and annoying (the TR outlets are harder to use).