The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Lead in automotive paint?

Does anyone know if Chevy used lead in their auto paints during the 55-59 model years? If so is it certain colors? I am sanding most of my panels and I have two small children, so I'm a little concerned.

Thanks.
Michael

Yes. You can safely assume that all auto paint made before 1990 or so has some lead in it. You can use one of the test sticks you find at Home Depot to make sure, but chances are you do. You need to collect the dust and make sure your children do not inhale or ingest it. If your garage is attached to your house, find somewhere else to strip the paint, and don't wash your clothes in the same machine that you use to wash theirs. Lead is far more hazardous to children than adults.

Not good, I've been media blasting and dry sanding in an attached garage!! I'm glad I asked before I did the whole truck. I thoroughly blow out the garage after I'm done but I'm sure there is lead everywhere! I'm freaked-out!!

I'm glad that you asked about this because it never even entered my mind, but now I'm sure that plenty of lead has. darn!

Lead has a much lower effect on adults than children. It interferes with neuron formation in the brain. Lead dust is best cleaned up by wet dusting with trisodium phosphate (the real stuff, not the substitute). The phosphate binds to the lead and cleans it up better.

Lead was only in certian colors. Most anything with red or yellow toners is going to have lead. Of course the more red or yellow the color, the more lead.

Brian

Where does one get trisodium phosphate? Is it poisonous as well? How is it applied, a spray bottle?

I buy mine from the local lumber yard, Slowe's or Homo Depot would have it. It is a powdered product,, generally you wet down area, apply powder,scrub, rinse, repeat. Great for nasty concrete. Brian

After all the grinding, sanding, and me with no mask. No wonder my body won't float in water. Cecil..........

Great thread. It never occurred to me that automotive paints may contain lead. Too late for me now with all the sanding dust that I have inhaled over the years but a good heads up for the young people just getting started with their restoration project.

Well, I got two packs of lead testing sticks. They turned a very light pink when I stuck it in a pile of sanding dust, so there is lead there but probably not as much as I suspected. I did read somewhere that red and yellow paints had the most lead. Luckily mine is green and most of the paint is rusted off. Never-the-less I am going to try to strip as much paint off with paint stripper and sand the rest in the driveway. I spent the night washing out the garage and the kids bikes.

Here is another web page about lead in paint: http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/autopaints.html From austrilia

Lead alert facts: Lead in auto paints
Fact sheet
Department of the Environment and Heritage

Many auto paints, particularly those on older vehicles, are high in lead and can be a health hazard.

There have been cases of children suffering lead poisoning from playing in soil contaminated by auto paint dust.

Vintage car enthusiasts and amateur car restorers who strip and paint cars in their own garages or backyards could be unwittingly creating health risks for themselves, their families and neighbours.

The dangers of lead in auto paints
Lead enters the body when fine particles of lead in dust are swallowed, or when fumes or dust from synthetic enamels and lacquers from aerosols are breathed in. Dust generated by sanding and buffing is a major risk. It can settle in soil or household dust and become a constant health risk.

The use of high lead paints by commercial auto repairers and spray painters should be done in compliance with occupational health and safety regulations.

Lead in auto paints
Lead pigments
Lead colouring agents have been used for many years in auto enamels and lacquers. The highest levels of lead are found in the orange, red and yellow tones, where concentrations of more than 20% are common.

The pigments used in these highly coloured paints are based on lead sulphochromate and molybdate lead chromate. They are opaque and can be ground into fine particles, making them ideal for the high-gloss paints used on cars. They are also durable and resistant to ultra-violet light.

For older cars, the refinish industry can only provide accurate colour matches to vehicles that currently have paint containing lead on them by using the same lead-based pigments. If you are using these products you should be careful when sanding-down old paints and when spraying with new ones. Some older cars may also contain lead auto-body filler.

Lower concentrations of lead are present in the greens, browns and beiges.

It goes on ....

Lead driers and anti-corrosives
Auto paints may also contain lead in the form of lead driers (at levels up to 0.5% by weight). They are used on trucks and commercials, and in anti-corrosive pigments in some primers used on new cars.

Aerosol cans
Many of the paints sold in aerosol cans as touch-up paints contain lead. These spray packs are used by car owners to camouflage small areas of damage.

A major problem with these spray paints is that people often apply them to objects other than their cars, for example, to household goods, furniture and buildings. They should be used only for their prime purpose, that is, touching-up cars.

Keep yourself and your family safe
It is very important to keep young children and pregnant women away from the work area and clothes, supplies, equipment, tools or containers. Do not eat or smoke in the work area. Store supplies containing lead, marked with safety information, away from children.

In the work area
Auto-paint work should be done in a properly equipped spray shop that has dust extraction, ventilation and water-wash spray booths.

At home, please follow these general precautions. Ensure your garage or work area can be:

adequately ventilated if using solvents
contained to prevent dust spreading
contained to prevent overspray from painting with aerosols
easily cleaned, this means that carpets are not recommended as floor coverings in workshops, plastic sheets are preferable.
Do not dry sand auto-paints containing lead, as it produces a lot of dust containing lead. It is safer to wet sand, and clean sanded surfaces afterwards.

Use a particulate or air-purifying respirator that meets Australian Standard 1716. It should be fitted with a P1 (dust) or P2 (dust and fumes) filter, both of which capture small particles of lead. It should be worn when removing or spraying auto paints. The respirators can be bought from major hardware stores. Replace the filter regularly.

Wear protective clothing and eye protection. Wash your work clothes separately and shower and wash your hair as soon as possible after finishing the day's work.

Stay clean
All surfaces in the work place should be regularly wet dusted, not dry brushed or swept. Clean walls and windows at least monthly. Use sugar soap from a hardware store or tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) from an industrial cleaner stockist. TSP should be mixed at the ratio of at least 25g of 5% TSP to each five litres of hot water.

Mop-down paved areas, garden furniture, verandahs and other places children can access after you have finished the job. This could help clean any dust that has escaped the workshop.

Vacuum only with cleaners equipped with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters. These are the only filters that can capture the small lead particles. Wet mop if you cannot obtain a vacuum cleaner fitted with a HEPA filter.

Dispose of waste properly
Dispose of waste materials containing lead and water contaminated after wet mopping according to State/Territory or local government regulations. The water should be placed in a strong, securely sealed container. Do not pour water down drains or on to the garden.

Lead test kits
Small kits available from some paint wholesalers and hardware stores can test whether your paints contain lead. However, experience overseas suggests that many of these kits can give false negative and false positive results, although better results are possible with experience.

It can take up to 30 minutes for these tests to give a result for paints that contain lead chrome pigments.

Analytical laboratories can provide precise results. See the Yellow Pages (under Analysts or Environmental and/or Pollution Consultants).

I work at a Naval Ship Yard. I am a lead and asbestos worker.
ASSUME lead is in EVERYTHING until proven otherwise.
NO paint, bondo, steel, or fumes, dusts have anything in them that's GOOD for you. Nowhere will you read on a lable to just add some BBQ sauce for a real treat; so act accordingly.
Lead is HEAVY so it doesn't float around like Bondo, paint, etc dusts.
Blowing out the garage isn't the thing you want to do; it's not a good idea. Go get a HEPA filtered vaccum cleaner, Wal-Mart has them, VACUUM up the dust immediatly! NO BLOWING dust around, no sweeping, just vacuum, you can sweep directly INTO the hose on the vacuum, when its on and running of course.
Use HEPA filters on your respirator. See your respirator vendor for these filters.

You can make sure the kids don't ingest it by cleaning up after yourself. Not washing your clothes in the same LOAD of wash where they wash their clothes is prudent, but not washing your clothes in the same washer where they wash their clothes is overkill. Lead isn't going to jump out at you and bite you. You need to practice good hygiene, wash your hands after sanding the car, before eating etc. and don't wear your "sanding" clothes into the house. Don't keep an open drink container in the area where you are sanding. Just be reasonable and do intelligent things. Wear a respirator or at least a dust masks when sanding. The thing about dust masks is they don't offer much measurable protection. A fitted respirator with dust cartridges can be purchased at the hardware store. Learn to fit test it and change the cartridges after a reasonable period of use. I can't say what that is, but if the cartridges start looking dirty they probably are. If you can begin to taste anything in the air while wearing a respirator, stop what you are doing and change the cartridges. I am not a certified safety professional but have worked as an environmental manager and environmental engineer for over thirty years much of it around heavy metals so I am familiar with the topic.

We changed our organic filters when there is resistance when inhaling or after 8 hours, which ever occurs first; the hepas were changed when we felt resistance. Now we have combination hepa and organic filters. We're fit tested every year after certain age, I use a full face respirator when I paint or sand; the half face works ok but the eye protection is so much better with a full face and you get 50 times the protection over a 1/2 face model.

In addition to lead in paints there can also be cadmium and chromium (hexavalent chrome is the "bad un").

I was an industrial hygienist with Navy Hospital at Bremerton. Worked extensively in the lead program there and did a lot of field sampling. Doug 9656 from Port Orchard and I may even know each other. Lead dust is absorbed very well by breathing - no smoking in lead areas. Swallowing works well also. Lead in gasoline can absorb thru skin but that is not a "big" absorption route.

I would agree with all preventitive measures said previous and repeat what Doug said
DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR TO CLEAN UP PAINT DUST.
Do not get respirators at the hardware store see a proper safety outfit or in crunch get em from Grainger. The best are the cartridges with a purple band (HEPA and radionuclide).

For you guys that did it wrong I would not go nuts thinking your kids are gonna die from being in the yard - unless they are in the lead paint dust sweeping pile. If you are really concerned your local health department may be able to help you with sampling and lab work or refer you to a QUALIFIED and COMPETENT lab. They may not charge you for taking samples of kids - generally a hair clipping but if detected they may want to take blood.

You will pay about 50 to 75 per sample of the yard dirt I guess but a bit of piece of mind is worth it. Price for the kids may be the same.

Houses were painted with lead also
ASSUME
any house paint before 1990 had lead in it. Again if you can avoid it NO FLAME removal, dry power sanding no no. Plastic drop cloths and all that.

NEVER weld or cut thru paint bearing lead. Sand it back at least one inch better two. It really does not take much to get your daily allowed dose.

Adults will recover from lead but young kids are much more vulnerable - there is no doubt in my mind about that. The most vulnerable are the crawlers - guess where the lead dust falls - they also are known to chew on things.

Lead is a hazardous waste - check with health department for proper disposal. Sometimes your City, county and even the hazardous waste outfits will take household hazardous waste for no or minimum charge.

Dan Bentler