Truths behind the Lies

Lately I feel I have been living a dream.  A dream where water fountains in schools are safe, family members do not steal from each other, government regulations are enacted to protect you, politicians are as honest as they proclaim and Bill Cosby is the ideal father figure.  Boy, have I had a wakeup call – and so has our country.

Last month I heard on the news that Tacoma schools found lead in the drinking fountains.  Seattle Public Utilities immediately said that there was nothing wrong with Seattle drinking water ‘but that all residents should run their water for two minutes before drinking it JUST IN CASE’ (emphasis added).  It turns out that the ‘gooseneck’ fittings are corroding, where there are gooseneck fittings there is lead. 

The TRUTH is, there are many opportunities for LEAD to enter your drinking water and each home/building is unique in its potential liabilities.  Has anyone suggested that it may be in the publics self-interest to test their water at each faucet?  NO, that would cost too much money and the public outcry when they found out how many of their faucets produced water with lead in it would be crazy.  Politicians may lose their jobs!  Let me ask, how many of you run your water 2 minutes before drinking it?

The TRUTH is, that in 1978 the EPA determined the Lead in the paint was extremely dangerous and made it illegal to sell (after 1978).  But did anyone TELL the PUBLIC that every time you hammered a nail into the wall to hang a picture you were exposing yourself and your family to lead poisoning?  (Remember even the smallest minute amount of dust with lead poisoning can cause permanent brain damage in children).   NO, the government waited until 2010, 32 years, to regulate/protect the public from remodeling produced lead poisoning.  Have you hung a picture up in your home in the last 32 years?

The TRUTH is that I do not believe anyone any more, and that is a very sad place to be.  Truthfully, Christine

Lead Solutions

What are we doing about LEAD in our homes?  These are the solutions that I am incorporating into my home and into the homes of my clients:

SAFE Drinking Water:  The testing of Drinking water is now a standard benefit of every kitchen and bath design that I work on.

HEALTHY Drinking Water:  I have researched and obtained (for my clients) RETTIN Tyent Ionized Water Filters which remove 100% of all LEAD and mercury in the water as well as pesticides, VOC's semi-VOC's, herbicide, disinfectants and non-metallic contaminants, and pharmaceutical contaminants.  This Ionizer has the ability to create Alkaline water (up to 10.0 ph) which has extreme health benefits. It can also create Acid water used for disinfecting and cleaning.  All of this is done through electricity, there are no additives involved.  We are installing these at kitchen sinks and bar sinks; anywhere you would go for drinking water.

LEAD Pipes and Solder:  As we design/remodel, we put into action replacing all lead pipes and all copper pipes that used lead solder.

LEAD in our paint:  IT IS THE LAW (Toxic Substances Control Act section 402(c)(3)), that all firms working in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities must be certified and use lead-safe work practices during renovations.  I am personally trained and certified, and my company, Christine Suzuki Installations Inc is certified as well.  (since 2010)  The intent of this specific training is to contain any chips of paint and lead DUST.  Dust is generally a healthy hazard even if it is not poisonous (as in lead.)  So our SUPER SAFE DUST FREE PRACTICES are generally very good for your family's health safety and welfare.

Please contact me if you have any concerns about the LEAD in your home, we are committed to providing healthy non toxic interiors to all of our friends family and customers.

Namaste, Christine

Politics Poisoning & Prevention

Lead in your Home

We’ve known the health effects of lead poisoning for a long time and now know that there is NO safe threshold for lead exposure.  Because of political pressure, many countries, cities and states have allowed and sometimes mandated that lead pipes be utilized for water distribution, that lead be added into gasoline, and have allowed lead based paints into homes.  These products/installations are now illegal. HOWEVER, these lead pipes, lead solder connecting copper pipes, and lead based paints are STILL in our homes, potentially poisoning ourselves, our children and grandchildren.  The information on lead poisoning is so vast that I am presenting only statements and quotations in a timeline fashion with references for your research.

Lead poisoning (also known as plumbism, colica pictorum, saturnism or painter’s colic) first written about by the Egyptians is said to have contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.  *6

1850 Scientists began fingering water pipes as the source of a growing number of lead poisoning cases. *9

1866 New York Herald published the article “The Dangers of Lead Pipes” #9

1900-1920 Homes built in this period usually have lead based pipes *1

1910-20 When municipalities began banning the use of lead pipes in the 1910s and 1920s, other sources of lead poisoning – paint, for example – also came under scrutiny.  In response, the lead industry fought back.  The National Lead Company ran ads proclaiming that ‘lead helps to guard your health’ *9

1920 Environmental pollution by lead caused by the introduction of tetraethyl lead in gasoline became an alarming public health problem.  The use became restricted in the 1980’s:  its effects on blood lead levels are now evident. *6

1921 the International Labour Conference organized a meeting in Geneva to adopt the White Lead Convention.  The convention led to the prohibition of the use of white lead in indoor painting in the several countries…Sweden and Czechoslovakia…Austria, Poland and Spain…Finland and Norway. In the United States, the Lead Industries Association succeeded in blocking the signing of the ILO convention. *6 

1921 Surgeon General convened a meeting when 8 workers died in straitjackets from dramatic central nervous system involvement from tetraethyl lead poisoning. *6

1928 To maintain sales of lead pipe, the LIA (Lead Industry Association) lobbied the government at all levels and targeted the people who both designed and installed water distribution systems with outreach and educational material and other resources.  The association carried on its promotional campaign into the 1970’s *10

1928 LIA’s Plumbing Promotion Program succeeded in Massachusetts where bans on certain kinds of lead pipe were lifted, in Pennsylvania lead pipe was formally required by the plumbing code to the exclusion of alternatives.  The LIA even managed to have lead pipes inserted into regulations governing federal construction projects, as well as building codes and building specifications. *9

1950 Federal guidelines and specifications sanctioned lead pipes into the 1950s

1920-1965 Homes built in 1920-1965 generally have galvanized plumbing *1

1960 when artificial softening of drinking water began,   lead began to dissolve from the pipes.*6

1965-1980 These homes are considered risky if they were built between 1965 and 1980 when copper pipes and lead-based solder were common place in plumbing *1

1970 LIA (Lead Industry Association) lobbied the government at all levels into the 1970s. *10

1970 Only four US states and 10 municipalities had laws or ordinances prohibiting indoor use of lead paint.  In 1970 it was estimated that the annual incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic lead poisoning in the U.S was as high as 240,000 cases.*6

1970-1980 National model plumbing codes APPROVED LEAD into the 1970s and 1980s and most water systems based their regulations on those codes.  During this time period there were more than 22 million new homes built in the United States *1  The primary source for lead in most drinking water sources is the piping used within a distribution system or the household plumbing…YOUR household plumbing may be the cause for lead in your drinking water.*4

1978 World Health Organization convened an expert meeting to scrutinize the present knowledge on lead, mercury and cadmium, creating a booklet called “Recommended Health-Based Limits in Occupational Exposure to Heavy Metals.”  The WHO officers who were involved in editing the document have privately stated that industry representatives lobbied heavily, both in the WHO and in the then CEC Health Protectorate, to prevent the publication.  These activities delayed the publication of the report and degraded it to a “technical report.” *6

1978 Federal government banned the use of lead based paint. 

1980 Seattle banned lead-based plumbing materials *1

1980 Nearly all homes built prior to the 1980s still have lead solder connecting copper pipes. *8

1984 EPA conducted a survey of 153 public water systems finding that 73% had installed lead service lines (a service line is the pipe from the street to your house) *10

1985 King County banned lead-based plumbing materials *1

1986 passage of Safe Drinking Water Act prohibited installation of lead water pipes.

1987 Washington State banned lead-based plumbing materials*1

1990 In the US practically no leaded gasoline was sold after 1990. *6

1990 Testing of children with lead poisoning showed a decrease in IQ of 6 points leading some scientists to suggest that slipping school performance in the US to a large extent can be attributed to past subclinical childhood lead poisoning. *6

1997 Seattle Public Utilities random sampling found 90% of houses came back with lead levels at nearly 20ppb

1997 CDC  estimates that as many as 5% of all American children suffer from subclinical lead poisoning. *7

2001 Seattle began adding soda ash meant to reduce most of the lead leaching from problem pipes. *1

2003 20% of all lead exposure in young children comes from drinking water *7

2004 Seattle Public Schools find high levels of lead in the drinking fountains *1

2004 Plumbing in many city homes poses lead risk.  *1

2004 EPA’s standard for lead contamination of drinking water is ZERO.*1   There is NO safe level for lead exposure *4   Standard for immediate action is 15 ppb. *1

2010 EPA RRP (Renovation Repair & Painting) ruling came into effect penalizing residential contractors up to $35,000 per incident if work done on homes older than 1978 is not within the RRP guidelines.  This ruling is to attempt to protect residents, owners, and workers from lead poisoning from lead based paint.  A minute amount of lead dust can cause lead poisoning. EG, Nailing a picture hanger into the wall could cause lead poisoning.

2014 PRIOR to 2014 the legal definition for “lead free” was plumbing fixtures with a lead content of less than 8%.  In 2014, the term was redefined to include only fixtures with a lead content of .25% and newly installed fixtures must use the “lead free” materials, but this did not apply to fixtures currently in use. *4

2016 EPA considering a more ‘proactive approach’ to replacing lead pipes. *2

2016 Some major US cities still have 100 percent lead piping bringing water from the utilities to homes and businesses. *8

2016  Hundreds of tons of the lead in paint that covered the walls of houses, apartment buildings and workplaces across the United States remains in place almost four decades later…*2

2016 EPA officials addressing Plumbing Manufacturers International said that the EPA has reason to believe that faucets are being imported into the U.S. that contain lead in excess of the SDWA requirements of 11 parts per billion. *8

It is a shame if action is not taken when all the ingredients for successful prevention exist.  *6

Be Safe, Christine

*1 Candace Heckman, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

*2 Arthur Delaney Huffpost

*3 Wikipedia

*4 Brian Oram PG, Special report #3, http://www.water-research.net/index.php/lead

*5 Alexandra Ossola

*6 Sven Hernberg, MD PHD

*7 Werner Troesken & Patricia E Beeson

*8 PMI Plumbing Manufacturers International https://www.safeplumbing.org/health-safety/lead-in-plumbing

*9 Stephen Mihm smihm1@bloomberg.net

*10 Richard Rabin, MSPH  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2509614/

Your Body is Your House

Toxins in our homes have been in discussion for several years.   LEAD based paint is most certainly in 70% of the homes in Seattle (all homes built before 1978 are suspect).  Even if the layer of lead based paint is five layers down, you are in danger of lead poisoning.  When would you disturb a layer that old?  When you remodel!  Toxins enter the body either through our lungs or by accidental eating (a microgram of lead dust is enough to cause lead poisoning.)   Do your children or grandchildren play with or suck on car keys?  Keys contain lead.  Even handling your keys and eating finger food can deliver a significant amount of lead into your mouth.  The dangers of lead poisoning are many.  LEAD is a highly toxic metal that can profoundly suppress immunity.  Lead poses significant health risk for adults but are particularly dangerous for children causing damage to the brain and central nervous system, can cause decreased intelligence, reading and learning difficulties, behavioral problems and hyperactivity.  This damage can be irreversible, affecting children throughout their lives.

The bottom line is that your house can be dangerous to your health.  The double bottom line is that some of the items we purposely put in our body also contain lead.  Things like…hmm… Vitamin supplements! 

Surprisingly, one of the biggest sources of lead in your life (assuming you are not remodeling a home built before 1978) may be your nutritional supplements.  Lead contamination in calcium supplements has been a significant problem, even though an FDA warning on this issue was published in 1981.****  Since then, studies have confirmed that many forms of calcium still contain lead in amounts that exceed EPA safety guidelines.  Since many people (including children) are taking large doses of calcium, this is a matter of concern.  Supplements that we TRUST to put in our body may be making us SICK.  In 1993 researchers tested 70 brands of calcium supplements and found high levels of LEAD in a significant percentage.

How can you tell if your supplement contains high amounts of lead?  Ask for ‘certified heavy-metal assay’ from the manufacturer.  If they can’t give it to you switch to a company that will.

This sounds nuts but the truth is that there are different levels of QUALITY in vitamins and nutritional supplements.  They are not all alike.  Stephen Cherniske, CSO of Univera remarks, 'The bottle that says Calcium is not the same as the bottle next to it that says Calcium.  We exasperate the problem because we want ‘good deals’ and look for the cheapest brand at the cheapest price.  Is that the way to make sure you put healthy supplements into your body?  NO!  Think about it, if it takes more time to keep toxins out, if it costs more money for research to show the benefits of a product, if it costs more money to purchase purer base materials, then it will cost more.' 

Why would companies knowingly produce and sell low quality products with high levels of LEAD to the general public?  Because THEY CAN, and they are betting that you will buy it.

Sustainable Design is Dead - AIA terminates credit requirement

One of the questions I have often been asked by clients, colleagues and other professionals, is ‘how long is this green thing going to last’?  Is it a fad, a movement or is it a real change in our society?

For the past 10 years it has been a growing movement and has influenced our society from organic food to recycled glass counters.  Most manufacturers that have any interest in being in business have re-evaluated their manufacturing processes and carefully calculated the LEED* points that their product qualifies for.  Most manufacturers proudly advertise their level of ‘green.’

I have noticed, however, a split in some of the professionals that work with building products on a daily basis.  There are many architects, interior designers and contractors that have decided that they are not going to participate in the ‘green thing’.  (I am always shocked!!  REALLY?  Not at all???)  I have found that for most, it is a reluctance to learn new values, new design ‘rules.’  And to stereotype, it is the same group of people that say ‘why should I learn Autocad, I’m going to retire soon anyway.’  But, they are not retiring, they are active, working  professionals in our community.

So it is with apprehension that I read the announcement that AIA** has allowed the sustainable design education requirement to sunset at the end of calendar year 2012.  What? AIA is not promoting sustainable design?  This is what they said:

“Recognizing that sustainable design practices have become a mainstream design intention in the architectural community...AIA members will no longer need to complete the sustainable design requirement to fulfill their AIA continuing education.”

I’d like to think that sustainable design practices are main stream, but honestly, how many sustainable homes have you seen built lately?  Don’t they look suspiciously like the homes that were built 10 years ago?  Has the building industry changed? How many compostable toilets have you sold?  Or even HET’s? Do you even know what an HET is?

My point is that although sustainable design is much more frequent and accessible than it has been in the past, it is hardly main stream and the professionals that need this education the most are the ones that have long been out of school, the ones that would be required to take these courses as part of their continuing education.  I vote to keep those requirements.

Trying to Keep Green

Christine

 *LEED : Leadership  in Energy and Environmental design, a green building certification system established in 2000 by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC)

 **AIA: Based in Washington, D.C., the AIA has been the leading professional membership association for licensed architects. emerging professionals, and allied partners since 1857.

Painting your bedroom for health & wellness

We spend 6-8 hours a day sleeping in our bedrooms.  What we are surrounded by, what we breathe, touch, see and feel, all affects our health and well being.  Many of us are blissfully unaware of the chemicals in the backing of our carpet, the VOC's in the paint on our walls, or the toxins in our bed covers.  Many of us are also unaware of the HEALTH BENEFITS of painting your bedroom.

1)  Specific colors/color frequencies can help relax your body, reduce tension, lower blood pressure.

2)  Paint with zero VOC's is good for your health.  The alternative being paint with VOC's (VOCs are volatile organic compounds, which are chemicals that off-gas into the air and into your lungs.  Yes, they are bad for your health.)

3)  Painters that are EPA Certified Renovators know how to provide the extra care needed to keep the dust and related particles contained and away from your loved ones and pets.  (This includes lead dust from lead paint that might be on a layer of paint on your home that is older than 1978)

Of course, I cannot flaunt this information without offering a package deal for the Valentines day month of February!  FEBRUARY SPECIAL:  Professional color CONSULTATION, zero-VOC PAINT, and professional EPA certified Painters to paint your bedroom for only $400.  Call or email me for more information! 206-517-4424 (Restrictions apply, projects must be scheduled by Feb 28, 2011 to qualify for this offer.)

Color your World

  (Before) 

To be honest, I just figured out how to add a picture to my blog!  So, my first picture needed to be in color and about color! Bold beautiful color!  Most people are very hesitant to add strong colors on their walls, and for good reason.  Many people have tried and failed to get the 'right' shade of color on their walls and have debated about the 'accent' wall having the strong color against the remaining white walls.  Will it make the room seem smaller?  What wall should I put the color on? etc.  So, let's cut to the chase and give you some guidance.

1)  It REALLY helps to have before and after pictures to convince yourself and your loved ones that color can be a wonderful thing.

2) Strong colors work really well with other strong colors. (see the picture above)  If you are working with a pure hue, then the supporting colors should also be a pure hue.  If you are working with a greyed down muted color, then the supporting colors should also be greyed down.

3)  Most people make the mistake of choosing one strong color to put on one wall and leaving the rest of the walls white.  NO, no, no.  Contrasting colors such as a red wall against a white wall, are attention getters.  It is not the red color, it is the contrast of the red against the white.  In this example the contrast will jump out at you, making the room seem smaller.  What you want to do is have equally strong colors on the supporting walls (see picture above), or, perhaps the strong color on all the walls.

 

 This 'living room' was 9' x 10', doesn't it look much bigger?

4)  If you have nice architectural features you should show them off by utilizing alternate colors (see the picture at the top).  If you hate the architectural features, hide them by painting everything the same color.

5)  Keep everyone healthy, purchase low to zero VOC paint.  If you are scraping off old paint and your home was built before 1978, please read my blog on lead poisoning.

6)  Finally, save yourself some grief and hire a professional to help you.  Two hours of consultation will save you hours of painting and repainting your rooms.  It will also save you the cost of the gallons of unused paint that will be sitting in your garage for the next 10 years. :)

Color & Light Therapy - Frequencies that Heal

As we go into the Fall and Winter months, many of us actually FEEL the change in our bodies and psyche as we exchange the sun for the 'dead mouse' grey skies and the increasingly dark days.  Do I sound depressed? (Where are my anti depressants!!)  For those affected by SAD (seasonal affective disorder), winter in the Northwest can be challenging.  There are 'natural' solutions that are not surprisingly related to the causes of our depression. (Darn, no drugs this time!)

The quick explanation is that different colors have different frequencies.  All color require light to be perceived.  Different colors of light have different frequencies (these are measured in Kelvins and called color frequencies.)  Our bodies are made up of frequencies (See The Body Electric by Robert Becker.)  As we leave the summer months, the color of light changes and the amount of light is reduced, leaving us with 'frequency withdrawals.' l Luckily, we can recreate these lost frequencies through  the use of color and light in our surroundings.  Many people are aware of the 'blue' light that can be purchased, put on on a timer and is meant to mimic daylight.  The trick is, you have to sit in the light (or carry it around with you)  for a period of time for it to really have an affect.  The other option is to add color into your environment.  The largest amount of surface that we are surrounded by are our walls.  Seeing/feeling color frequencies can help ward off the Northwest blues.  Select color(s) that not only stave off the depression, but ones that you will enjoy year round.  (Call me for color consultations.)  Use eggshell finish for the walls, semi gloss for the trim.  Make sure to purchase low to zero VOC paint to keep this venture healthy.  And for goodness sake, read that stack of books you have been staring at, and call me in the Spring.

Lead Based Paint and Healthy Home Remodels

Remodeling to add some 'greeen' features to your home?  Concerned about the formaldehyde that off gasses from most cabinetry?  Do you know how much lead it takes to cause a difference in IQ with your child, how much lead that can cause miscarriages?  Take a packet of Equal (the sugar substitute) and pore it onto the table.  Extract 15 (yes 15) granules.  That's is how much lead can cause lead poisoning.  Did I mention that it causes learning disabilities, lowered IQ and attention deficit disorder?

Lead based paint was banned in 1978.  So all homes that are older than 1978 have a chance of having lead based paint in them.  If you are lucky and live in one of those beautiful classic homes in our area, you can just about guarantee that somewhere under the many layers of paint on your wall, you have lead based paint.  Like asbestos, it is harmless unless it is disturbed.  What do we do in remodels?  We cut up the walls, removed some, add others.  In other words, we disturb the heck out of it.

I have been very concerned about the health of our families and the affect that our homes have on their health.  We are always talking about eating the correct foods to stay healthy.  How about breathing the right air?  There needs to be a different kind of construction/remodeling that takes place.  A different set of standards.  I have implemented a new safety and dust plan to capture all dust (lead or not) that may come from a remodeling project.  We need to keep everyone healthy, the home owners, the workers, our environment.  There is a new level of safety/health concerns and conversations that have been weaning its way into the Interior Design /Architectural /Construction set of morals, codes of conduct and codes of law. We're all still working on this one step at a time.  One day we will figure out how to provide good shelter for our bodies without poisoning ourselves.  On that happy note, I am proud to say that I am now an EPA Certified Renovator!  I can now Officially test for lead paint and perform quality remodels without harming the people who live and work in that home.  One baby step in the right direction.....