Does my bus have lead paint?

musigenesis · 08-28-2019, 07:29 AM

I was just reading about school bus yellow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_bus_yellow

which is apparently lead-based (with some hexavalent chromium thrown in for good measure). I've noticed on my bus that when I sand off the yellow paint it has a strange sweet smell, which is a characteristic of lead-based pigments. Would my bus have actually been painted with lead paint in 2003?

musigenesis · 08-28-2019, 12:17 PM

Did the swab test, no lead paint. The children are safe.

Does anybody know why my paint smells the way it does?

DawgBüs · 08-28-2019, 12:51 PM

Now I have the funniest image of a guy scraping the paint on the side of a bus and sniffing it. Hahaha. Mus... Stop sniffing paint!!

Seriously though, what year is this bus that you're sniffing? I have an '82 and while grinding certain surfaces for welding, I noticed a strange, chemical smell and started wondering the same thing, about lead being present. I immediately grabbed my respirator (which I should've been wearing anyway!) to be safe. I imagine it's just thre chemicals within the paint that you're smelling.