Q: Protecting employees and customers from reused material having lead paint

As a preliminary matter, your state may have laws or regulations addressing the management, handling or sale of materials containing lead-based paint.  Therefore, building material reuse...

As a preliminary matter, your state may have laws or regulations addressing the management, handling or sale of materials containing lead-based paint.  Therefore, building material reuse stores should contact both their state health department (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/international/relres.html) and state environmental agency for more specific direction.  In addition to complying with all state or local law and regulations, EPA recommends the following practices to help minimize lead exposure to employees, volunteers, and customers. 


 At a minimum, EPA suggests that reuse stores label suspect items to indicate that they may contain lead, educate staff about lead hazards, and provide outreach materials to customers about lead-safe work practices. Some useful resources include: Renovate Right (https://www.epa.gov/lead/lead-safe-certifiedguide-renovate-right-2), Steps to LEAD SAFE Renovation, Repair and Painting (https://www.epa.gov/lead/steps-lead-safe-renovation-repair-and-painting-march-2009), and Lead Paint Safety: A Field Guide for Painting, Home Maintenance, and Renovation Work (http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/training/LBPguide.pdf).  These can be downloaded from EPA’s Web site or ordered from the National Lead Information Center at 1(800)424-LEAD or https://www.epa.gov/lead/forms/national-lead-information-center-document-request-form.  
 

EPA suggests that reuse stores assume the presence of lead-based paint in pre-1978 residential building materials and all other non-residential building materials, or have these materials tested.   Lead test kits that have been recognized by EPA (https://www.epa.gov/lead/epa-recognition-lead-test-kits) are available at most hardware stores; alternatively, an XRF analyzer can be used to detect lead or a paint chip can be sent to a laboratory for analysis.