www.charlesjeromeware.com "Here to make a Difference. Maryland and D.C.-based, Nationally-respected." Charles Jerome Ware is a premier lead poisoning and lead paint defense attorney. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact him at (410) 720-6129 or (410) 730-5016.
Unfortunately, our Federal government was very slow to act to stop the manufacture of lead for use in gasoline as well as an additive in paint, despite evidence long ago of human health dangers. Interior house lead-based paint was banned by Congress in 1970 but it was still available in the marketplace until it was banned by the Federal government in 1978. Another major contributor to public lead poisoning --- leaded gasoline --- was banned in the United States in 1976. In contrast, and to their credit, the foreign nations of France, Belgium and Austria were restricting the use of lead-based paint in their countries by 1909. In 1922, the League of Nations called for a complete ban on lead-based paint for indoor use. By 1934, the countries of Tunisia, Greece, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Yugoslavia and Cuba had all restricted the use of lead paint.
Lead (Pb) does not just go away. This soft, malleable, useful, utilitarian, physically harmful (when inhaled or ingested), and heavy metal (Atomic Number 82) has a scientific "half-life" of over 500,000 years, does not dissolve in water, nor decay, nor dissipate, nor burn. Lead just lasts, and lasts, and lasts. Lead is believed to have first been mined and used by societies and civilizations as early as 4,000 B.C. --- over 6,000 years ago. Its use has been prolific since then. Scientists and other researchers estimate there are billions of pounds and multi-millions of metric tons of lead currently
in the earth's environment.
Unfortunately for residential rental landlords in major metropolitan areas such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the vast majority of lead poisoning claims and lawsuits are being brought by residential rental tenants living in pre-1978 built apartments and houses, against landlords alleging lead paint poisoning. In reality, the truth is that
toxic lead is just about everywhere in these lead "hot spots", including : the air we breathe, the water we drink and use, the food and drink we ingest, the dust and soil around us, factories and other industrial work sites (active and inactive), toys and furniture, jewelry and cosmetics, other buildings and products, foreign-made products, etc. In sum, there are many other sources of toxic lead poisoning than just lead paint in rental residences.
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