Home Renovations and Your Health

Thinking about renovating your home? If you are a do-it-yourselfer or hiring a professional, there are some health precautions you should know about before you begin a renovation project.

Exposure to lead and asbestos can harm your health. To keep families in Vermont safe, the state has laws for how renovation work needs to be done. These laws help reduce the risk of being exposed to lead and asbestos during home renovation projects.

Lead-Safe Work Practices: Renovating, Repairing and Painting a Pre-1978 Home

Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used in paint, stain and varnish until 1978. If lead-based paint is not handled properly during renovation, repair or painting work on your home, it can cause lead poisoning. If you live in a home that was built before 1978, Vermont law requires you to presume that all painted and coated surfaces contain lead. 

Lead-based paint becomes a hazard when it is disturbed and turns into dust. Children, pregnant people and adults can be exposed to lead by breathing in or swallowing lead dust. 

Asbestos in Building Materials

Asbestos is a mineral fiber that is used in many types of building construction materials (for example, insulation, as a fire retardant, and to enhance the strength of building materials). Asbestos-containing materials are not dangerous unless they are damaged or disturbed in a way that creates dust. Vermont law requires you to presume that asbestos-containing materials are in your home. 

If they are not handled properly during renovation, repair or demolition work, asbestos fibers can be released into the air. Anyone can be exposed to asbestos by breathing in asbestos fibers. Exposure to asbestos fibers increases your risk of having serious health effects — such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Find out what you need to do before beginning a renovation, repair or demolition