Festool HEPA filter vacs and the EPA Lead rqmts.

[vteknical]

Fortunate for vacuum mfg's, it just says a Hepa vacuum.  Hepa Filters do not make vacuums any better if they are not designed with emissions in mind.
   

If they said Hepa certified vacuum that's a whole new ball game.  That would means the entire vacuum cleaner is as efficient as a Hepa filter, which would put vac prices in another category all together.

 

[score0matic]

I am revisiting this thread because i am in the middle of the Lead ABATEMENT supervisor course. Air samples, Action level, containment, respirators, decontamination sites.  Omaha is a Federal Superfund  [eek] site and i may be changing my focus to where the Government will be throwing  several hundred millions of dollars for the next 15 years..

this is the 5 day course for abatement projects and not the renovators course ................The wording in the HUD ,EPA, Guidelines and OSHA 1926 say HEPA filtered Vac What this means is there is only filtered air exiting the vac.  this would include air being used to cool the motor.

Is this the case with the CT vacs?

 

[Holzhacker]

Great timing for this to come back around. Does anyone know or have a link to the approved/disapproved removal methods? Client called yesterday asking if using a heat gun to remove lead paint from trim and windows was allowed or not. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea and wouldn't recommend it due to the potential fumes. Told her I'd look into what is approved or not. BTW why do you ask? Turns out their contractor is removing lead paint from windows and trim in a unit using a heat gun. Tenant is complaining of fumes and headaches. The tenant wants the client to pay for a hotel room.
Markus

 

[greg mann]

Tenant deserves protection. This may not be what the client wants to hear but people deserve to be safe.

 

[score0matic]

Holtzhacker

The tenet should not even be in a lead work area.  [scared]  The area designated a lead work area by signs.  The proper worksite preparation level containment erected.   The work completed. And the site properly decontaminated.  If the job lasts more than a day there are other things that need to be done.  This requirement will all come into effect for every remodel or renovation in any home built before 1978, Apr of 2010

An electric heat Gun under 1100 F is acceptable. liquid Stripers,  Wet sanding and Scraping are allowed.  Hepa attached tools are allowed.  HUD guidelines Abatement. Chp 12 page 12-33. I believe the LS 130  Ets and Rotex sanders and The Trion Jig saw with all attached covers would based on FIG 12-16 and the description of such tools found in Chapter 12 Section IV.D.2  Mechanical Removal Methods (pages 12-39, 40, 41),  fit Hud guidelines.

OSHA has nothing to say, 29 CFR 1926.62 Lead, about methods only that lead exposure be kept below action levels  (For the protection of the worker they dont care about tenents) before action is taken (not going to elaborate here)

Craig

Unless this is an historic area they would be much better off replacing windows.  ie Cheeper to remove and replace than to fix and repaint.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

No, the motor cooling intake port is on the side of the vac and is not filtered. You can see this a little more obviously when you open the lid on the vac, as the vent is part of the upper chamber, and you can feel the suction from the vent too. I have not seen the new vacs yet, so I don't know if this aspect of the design has changed.

It has been 20 years since I did any industrial hygiene oversight, but I would think this requirement has some qualifications to its applicability. If the vac is used exclusively for inside containment, or exclusively for outside containment, then it logically shouldn't matter. However, I assume this was added because there is no guaranty that the vac would not change duties from one project to the next, and contamination ingested at one project site could be expelled at another project site.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Thanks Rick.

 

[Holzhacker]

Thanks for the replies and info. After all these years I still fail to fully understand why clients/landlords do some of the things they do. Supposedly the contractor put some plastic up. I doubt there is actual containment. If it were me, I would have replaced the windows just from an energy standpoint alone. Stripper isn't that hard to use for trims once you get the hang of it. A friend of mine used to own a stripping shop. People would bring in doors, sash old big trim, hutches. He died prematurely. The way he used to get sick a lot, it wouldn't surprise me if all the chemicals took some years off of him. He's actually sitting on my bookshelf next to me right now, (his remains).
Markus