Posted By Peter MacDonald Send a sample for analysis. You should get confirmation one way or the other within 48hrs. You need to be sure as lead exposure through inhaling airborne lead particles (as well as ingestion and absorption) is high when shot blasting. If you are challanged on your assumption that their is no lead present an analysis on paper is the only way to prove your point. Cheers Peter

Posted By Kevin Drew Lumpy, If the paint is indeed "old" and contains a significant amount of lead then CLAW will almost certainly force me down the route of lead-in-air sampling and lead-in-blood and/or urine measurements of the workers involved. None of this is cheap and if the risk is negligible then why do it? I've no doubt the controls will be adequate but monitoring maybe required. As you rightly say any paint sampling will have to be representative and since we are to process several hundred tonnes of steelwork this is another significant expense. Kevin Drew

Posted By John Murgatroyd The risk is negligable to whom ? Surely you are aware that lead poisoning is cumulative ? Not only is it damaging to those exposed at work, but dust carried away on clothes, hair etyc can cause damage to those that the worker lives with...especially children, who are much more at risk than adults. So, that's the workers. What about those exposed to the dust DOWNWIND of the site/workshop ? What about disposal of the material that is waste from the operation ? I think your attitude is a bit cavalier, to say the least.

Posted By Kevin Drew John, Thanks for the insult. Cavalier, I think not. If I were cavalier I wouldn't even be asking the question. Too many late nights for you I think (00:03, how sad is that?). If you read my earlier posting properly you will see that I said IF the risk is negligible which is the whole point of my original question. John, it's all about risk assessment and all I'm trying to do is judge the severity of this particular hazard. No offence taken. Kevin Drew

Posted By John Murgatroyd How sad ? Not very....I sleep for about 4 hours most nights and fewer in the summer. More time to do things !! Lead paint continued to be used in commercial applications until the early 80's. See below...ish: 4) Where old lead painted surfaces can be found It is important to recognise that the hazards of lead paint are generally restricted to old painted wooden or metal surfaces. If the house or the building in question has been constructed since the 1970s or the original painted surfaces in an older home or building have been removed and repainted within this period, it is extremely unlikely that lead-containing paints will be present. Prior to the early 1960s white lead (lead carbonate/lead sulphate) was the principal white pigment in primers and topcoats applied to wooden surfaces inside and outside homes and other buildings. Doors, architraves, window frames and sills, stairs and banisters, skirting boards, weatherboards, door frames and barge boards are examples of where lead based paints might be found. Whilst the use of white lead in professional and retail decorative paints was generally replaced by alternative pigments during the 1950s, there was an inevitable time lag in which products in the supply chain continued to be used by professional decorators and do-it-yourselfers after this period. White lead based paints continued to be available to professional decorators for specialist applications, finding uses in commercial properties, public buildings and institutions. Coatings containing low levels of white lead also were used up to the early 80s for the application of a thin primer coat on industrially manufactured, pre-fabricated window and door frames. The use of wbite lead based paints is now restricted by law and they can only be used for the renovation and maintenance of historical buildings and monuments, with prior approval. In addition to the use of white lead in paints for wooden surfaces, some red, yellow, orange or green lead-based pigments (lead chromates) found limited uses in certain coloured gloss paints and wall paints. Decorative paint manufacturers discontinued the uses of these in the early 1970s, tbe pigments being replaced by non-lead alternatives. legislation now prevents the sale of paints containing these pigments to the public. White lead and lead chromates continue to be allowed in artists' colours and specialist model and bobby paints. In the past, other lead-based pigments have found uses in anti-corrosive coatings for metal surfaces. Red lead and calcium plumbate primers might be found on garden gates and railings, guttering and downpipes and other external iron and steel work. Again, the use of this type of coating bas declined in recent decades, as paint manufacturers have introduced alternatives. legislation now prevents the sale of these lead based primers to the public. They are still available for application by professional decorators and for use in industrial processes. They might well be present on articles and items around the home, garage and garden. Whilst safe handling of lead painted surfaces in domestic homes is one concern, professional decorators and builders should also be aware of the possible presence of lead paints in commercial properties, industrial sites and institutional buildings such as schools, hospitals etc and take appropriate precautions when removing or renovating surfaces