The ongoing nationwide effort to manage the problem of
lead-containing paint has relied upon NIST-certified
measurement materials for detecting and monitoring lead
levels in paint, dust and other potentially hazardous
samples. |
There
was a time when lead-based compounds were the right stuff
for getting house paint whiter than white. Only years
after the lead had been spread over millions of homes and
businesses did people realize how much of a public health
risk the use of lead in paint brought with it. It turned
out that unexpectedly low amounts of lead in the
bloodstream are enough to elicit brain-damaging
physiological changes in children. Adults are much less
susceptible. The National
Institute of Standards and Technology has become an
important component of the long-term effort to manage and
reduce the risks posed by lead paint. NIST's part has
been to develop the standards of measurement by which
laboratories determine the amount of lead in paint
samples brought to them by homeowners. Moreover, NIST is
the source of key Standard
Reference Materials such as dust-based and
paint-based materials that contain amounts of lead
measured and certified by NIST's world-class analysts.
These then serve as the benchmarks for hundreds of labs
around the country that test dust and paint samples
collected from homeowners, public housing officials, and
others who need to know if and how much lead is in their
midst. With such authoritative quantitative measure in
hand, better and more confident decisions about how to
deal with a lead paint problem can be made. Lead paint is only one of the
coatings-related areas that NIST researchers work on.
NIST's Polymeric Materials
Group also
conduct research to better understand what makes paint, protective coatings
on
steel, and other organic building materials go bad or, on
the good side, to remain serviceable. The goal is develop
a knowledge base that could lead to better coating
materials and to develop better standardized practices
that will make building maintenance easier and less
expensive.
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