1. Question: Why is the CPSC concerned about lead paint on playground equipment?
Response: While deteriorating lead paint in homes poses the most significant lead risk to young children, testing by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and some state and local jurisdictions has shown that many school, park, and community playgrounds across the United States have metal or wood playground equipment that present an additional lead poisoning hazard primarily to children six years and under. Some equipment was painted with lead paint, and over time, the paint has deteriorated into chips and dust containing lead, due to exposure to sunlight, heat, moisture, and normal wear and tear. The lead paint chips and lead dust can be ingested by young children who put their hands on the equipment while playing and then put their hands in their mouths. Since adverse health effects from lead exposure are cumulative, the exposure to lead from playground equipment contributes to the overall lead risk.
2. Question: What testing was conducted to support the CPSC's conclusions that some playgrounds are a lead hazard?
Response: The CPSC has conducted an investigation of older equipment in 26 playgrounds in 13 cities in 11 states across the United States. CPSC staff found 20 playgrounds in 11 cities had equipment with lead levels over the CPSC 0.06 percent allowable level. Sixteen of these playgrounds had equipment with lead levels in excess of 0.5 percent; the level that is identified in Title X of the 1992 Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act as a priority for hazard reduction activities. The paint on the playground equipment that exceeded 0.5 percent lead ranged from 0.62 percent to 8.76 percent (w/w), with a median lead level of 1.47 percent.
In addition to the 26 playgrounds tested by CPSC, playground equipment with high lead levels have also been reported from several states and cities. The CPSC staff received reports of testing in 223 playgrounds in 19 cities in 9 states and the District of Columbia. In 11 cities, 125 playgrounds had lead paint on their playground equipment that was over the 0.06 percent CPSC level. The content of the lead in the paint on the equipment reportedly ranged from 0.09 percent to 29 percent. These reports corroborate the CPSC findings. The information received from the cities did not identify the extent to which the paint exceeded the 0.5 percent level.
3. Question: How much lead paint from playground equipment would a child have to ingest to get lead poisoning?
Response: The amount of lead paint from playground equipment a child would have to ingest to get lead poisoning depends in part on the amount of lead in the paint on equipment at that particular site and how much of the lead can be absorbed into the body. For playground equipment with 1.47 percent lead in the paint, CPSC staff has determined that daily ingestion over about 15-30 days of as little as one tenth (0.1) of a square inch of this paint (the size of the head of a pencil eraser) could result in blood lead levels at or above the 10 microgram per deciliter (ug/dl) amount the Federal government considers a health concern for young children. Such sustained blood lead levels have been linked with behavior and learning problems, damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth, and hearing problems. Since adverse health effects from lead exposure are cumulative, ingestion of even very small amounts of lead from playground equipment would be additive with a young child's lead exposure from other sources.
Read more about playground accident at http://www.cpsc.gov
Phone: (718) 721-2000
