White Lead Paint History

Lead paint or lead based paint is paint containing lead as pigment lead ii chromate pb cr o 4 chrome yellow lead ii iv oxide pb 3 o 4 red lead and lead ii carbonate pb c o 3 white lead are the most common forms.

White lead paint history.

These are workers at the titan company early 20th century. Lead based paint has been the source of health issues for painters and others for centuries. The role of lead white is multiple. Lead paints were created using white lead pigments beginning in colonial times.

Then the principal white pigments used in paints were white lead zinc white and lithopone. Greeks developed lead white paint which was the most popular white paint in use until titanium dioxide replaced it in the nineteenth century. Use peaked in 1922 as many homes and buildings were painted inside and out. Lead white is made by a modern process yielding a finely divided powder of high purity.

Rublev colours stack lead white is made according to the sixteenth century dutch stack process. 1950s 1970s industry consensus standards limiting the use of lead pigments date back to the 1950s when manufacturers led a voluntary effort to remove lead from house paints. Jaap boon university of amsterdam and amolf and formerly head of the molart project offered these important insights into the role of lead white in oil paint film. Interestingly the league of nations had banned lead paint the very same year but the u s.

Paint manufacturers started replacing lead pigments in some paints for example before world war ii when safer alternatives became available. It is a complex salt containing both carbonate and hydroxide ions. Lead is added to paint to accelerate drying increase durability maintain a fresh appearance and resist moisture that causes corrosion. Today titanium dioxide is the world s primary pigment for providing whiteness brightness and opacity.

It was formerly used as an ingredient for lead paint and a cosmetic called venetian ceruse because of its opacity and the satiny smooth mixture it made. White lead is the basic lead carbonate 2pbco 3 pb oh 2. In a posting on the amien forum dr. Lead white also serves to preserve the flexibility of oil paint extending the life of the paint film.

White lead occurs naturally as a mineral in which context it is known as hydrocerussite a hydrate of cerussite. Decided not to follow suit. The difference between lead white made according to modern practice and that made by the dutch stack process is the size and shape of the pigment particles.