Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County – Lead Paint Inspection

SANTA MONICA’S LOS ANGELES COUNTY – LEAD PAINT INSPECTION

CALL US AT (310)396-6532 TO SCHEDULE YOUR LEAD PAINT INSPECTION!

Environmental Inspection Services employs expert lead inspectors with certifications from the California Department of Public Health who are ready to examine your home or commercial building and find any and all lead paint. Lead paint is linked to numerous negative health outcomes, including neurological damage, and its elimination is of the utmost importance, especially when remodeling or doing other work. Despite the fact that undamaged lead paint in most cases is not an area of concern, the involvement of lead paint in construction work creates dust and paint chips that can be dangerous.

Structures completed before 1978, when lead paint was banned, have an elevated risk of containing lead paint – and 77% of homes in Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County date to before that year.

Get in touch with us to lay any worries you have about lead paint to rest.

At Environmental Inspection Services we tailor our methods to your needs. For our residential Santa Monica lead paint inspections, we deploy the latest X-Ray Fluorescence device. This eliminates the need for us take off any paint anywhere in your home. We can also perform wipe sample testing of the dust under windowsills and other areas that may harbor lead paint dust. For workplace OSHA lead paint tests, we are required to take a single square inch paint sample to analyze in our lab.
Our home lead paint inspections, in homes in Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County, will be about 1.5 to 4 hours. However, the more elaborate the paint scheme of the residence, the longer the inspection. Homes with more layers of paint, usually older houses, also take longer.
Anyone certified in lead-safe work practices by the EPA is capable of performing proper lead abatement. Information about lead-safe certification can be found here: EPA Lead-Safe Certification

Laws and regulations that apply to Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County require homes and buildings occupied by children to undergo lead paint inspections if any renovation or demolition is to be done. Furthermore, the health problems that lead paint exposure can cause make proper lead safety steps a necessity.

3% of children six and under in Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County have lead levels categorized as lead poisoning. Risk factors include residing in buildings constructed before the 1978 rules went into effect and proximity to crowded roadways. Abatement steps include conducting lead tests on objects in your home, especially those that children come into contact with, and eliminating sources of lead paint by replacing old doors and windows.

To be considered lead paint, the paint must be 0.5% lead by mass or greater when tested in our lab. In Santa Monica’s Los Angeles County, an XRF reading of 0.7 milligrams per square centimeter is classified as lead paint. Regardless of the exact levels, Environmental Inspection Services advises following lead-safe work practices.

Yes, the ground on your property can have lead introduced to it by several means. Some soil has a high amount of preexisting lead. Old paint pieces can fall into the soil and introduce lead. And areas near heavy traffic can still contain lead from the use of leaded gasoline. To find out more about leaded gasoline’s lingering effects, see here: NCBI – Soil is an important pathway of human lead exposure.
This is not safe, even if you meticulously wash what you grow. Lead from the soil will be absorbed into your fruits and vegetables. The New York Times has more information on this subject: New York Times: For Urban Gardeners, Lead Is a Concern
XRF analysis is immediate, and you can find out as we conduct your lead paint test. For paint chip samples, allow two to three business days. Lab results can be delivered within 24 hours for an additional fee.
The cost of a Santa Monica or Los Angeles County lead paint inspection hinges on the age and size of your home, as well as other details. Call us to get our best estimate for your situation.