HISTORY OF LEAD PAINT IN BALTIMORE 101 : LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY

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Charles Jerome Ware, LLC is a premier, Maryland-based, nationally-recognized and respected landlord lead paint defense law firm. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact us at (410) 720-6129. We can help you when you are being sued in a lead poisoning case.

Lead has been mined and used by humans for over 6,000 years, and the history of lead poisoning ("plumbism") is nearly 2,500 years old. Lead was known to humans as early as 4,000 BC.  The Egyptians, Greeks and Hebrews, among others, used lead (Pb), and the Phoenicians mined lead ore in Spain around 2,000 BC. The earliest written accounts of lead toxicity have been found in Egyptian papyrus scrolls. According to them, lead compounds were often used for homicidal purposes. The Roman Empire is credited with being the first society to widely use lead. They used it in their drinking vessels, cooking utensils, plumbing, viaduct systems, baths, food and other drinks, etc., and even added it in abundance to their wine for drinking.  Lead is slightly sweet to taste, making it enticing to children up to age 6 to chew, ingest and inhale. "Uninterrupted" lead is not considered harmful to humans. It is "interrupted" lead (i.e., chipped, flaked, dust, etc.) which is then ingested or inhaled that can be harmful in sufficient quantities to humans.

Lead poisoning is considered to be a public health crisis in Baltimore, because lead is essentially everywhere in this area : in the air we  breathe, the drinking water, soil,,playgrounds, yards, dust, pipes and other plumbing fixtures, toys, furniture, job and industrial sites, food and drinks, hobbies, cosmetics, jewelry, ceramics, pottery, home and folk remedies, etc. --- and, yes, many pre-1978 built houses and apartments. Lead is not dissolvable in water, does not dissipate nor decay, nor burn. It lasts ... and lasts ... and lasts. It is guesstimated that over 10 million metric tons of lead residue exists in the environment.

 Use of lead (Pb) began in Maryland with white lead (lead carbonate) during Colonial times and ultimately peaked in 1922. Up to 1951 in  Baltimore, and up to 1978 in most of the United States, lead-based paint was a legal product as used in residential units. It was in great demand inside residences particularly because of its washability and durability. In 1951, Baltimore was the first jurisdiction in the United States to ban the use of lead pigment in interior paint in Baltimore housing. In 1978, the Federal government banned consumer (including residential) uses of lead paint.

Recognizing the health problems caused by lead poisoning, the Federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act was enacted in 1992. It is commonly referred to as TITLE X (Title 10).
The Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to write regulations specifying how TITLE  X's goal of lead hazard reduction should be accomplished.

MAINTENANCE of the rental property, NOTICE to tenants, and DOCUMENTATION/RECORD-KEEPING are three keys to avoiding lead paint lawsuits, as well as having successful outcomes when sued.

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