Ridgewood Among Top NJ Towns For Lead Paint Exposure Risk Rates

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Ridgewood's antique charm comes with a dark side thanks to the risks involved in antiquated lead paint, a Patch analysis of state data shows.

Ridgewood and seven other Bergen County municipalities rank among the top New Jersey communities with the high rates of homes at an elevated risk for lead exposure, according to state data first compiled by Patch.

That's because 88.5% of Ridgewood homes were built before 1978, when a federal ban on lead-based paint in homes began, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said.

Homes built before 1950 — when the paint industry adopted its own plan to phase out lead paint — face even greater risk, experts say.

That amounts to roughly half of Ridgewood homes, or 54.9 percent to be exact.

Ridgewood ranks 12th in the state and third in the county for the highest percentage of houses with an elevated lead exposure risk, the data show.

Bogota is first in the county at 90.5% and Dumont second at 89.5%, both of which, actually, have fewer homes in total built prior to that year.

Ridgewood also has the third-highest number of homes in Bergen County that were built before 1977 (7,230), following Teaneck (10,525) and Fair Lawn (9,973).

Prior to the 1950s, lead was used in paint to achieve certain pigments, and improve drying, durability and moisture resistance, the NJDEP said. Lead paint became common in the early 1900s, as the product was used more commercially, the department added.

Exposure happens, the department continued, when lead paint starts to deteriorate, as that can result in lead-contaminated dust that may be ingested or inhaled, or paint chips that may be touched.

"Living in a house with lead-based paint can result in a chronic accumulation of the heavy metal in the body," the department said.

Exposure can turn into poisoning when lead builds in the body, and increase a person's risk of adverse health effects, including damage to the brain and nervous systems, kidneys and blood cells, the department said.

All of the data and information in this article was gathered through the state's expanded potential lead exposure mapping tool, which looks specifically at lead paint in housing as a source.

“Lead paint is one of the largest sources of lead exposure to our children, and any blood lead level above zero is unacceptable," state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement. "The (PLEM) will assist local health staff as they continue to work to eliminate lead exposure among NJ’s children."