But while much of the world banned lead in paint in the 1920s, the American lead industry and its friends held off legislation here for half a century. Congress finally passed the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act, restricting residential use of lead paint and coincidentally banning its use on toys and children's furniture. The restrictions finally went into place in 1977. But by then, millions of tons of lead had been applied to everything from exterior siding and interior woodwork to cribs and toys. Much of it is still there.
Lead paint is always the first suspect in domestic lead poisoning.
This grinding action creates dust which contributes to low level lead poisoning. Cracked, chipping, flaking or peeling lead paint results in chips and chunks of paint that a child can eat. So does lead paint on surfaces and objects that a child can chew. The ingestion of lead paint chips, depending on the amount consumed, can result in acute lead poisoning. Any lead paint, secure or peeling, that is scraped, sanded or burned off releases enormous quantities of lead into the home environment.