|
Indoor Air Quality | Asthma &
Allergies | Mold & Moisture | Carbon Monoxide | Lead
Drinking Water | Hazardous
Household Products | Pesticides |
Home Safety
Lead
.pdf version
Should You Be
Concerned?
Lead poisoning is one of the most serious
health threats for children in and around the home. Your children can be
poisoned if they get lead in their bodies. Lead may cause learning and behavior
problems. It may damage hearing and the nervous system, including the brain.
Where does the lead come
from?
Lead was used in paint, water pipes, gasoline,
pottery, and other places. Even though this metal is not used as much anymore,
it still remains in places it was used.
The paint on your walls and window sills may
have lead in it. Household dust (from old, worn paint) may have lead in it.
Your drinking water may have lead in it from water pipes or solder that joins
pipes together. Even the soil outside your home may have lead in it.
It is very important to find out if your home
has lead in and around it. There are tests that will let you know and they
don't cost a lot.
|
One out of nine American children have
too much lead in their bodies. The rate is even higher in cities.
Dust from lead paint is the biggest
threat to young children. |
How Can Lead Poison Your
Child?
There are many ways. Young children put their
hands and everything else in their mouths, so they can eat the dust or chips of
lead- based paint without knowing it. Even small bits of paint to small to see
can come off windows, doors and walls, creating lead dust. Children who crawl
on the floor, put toys in their mouths, or play in soil around the home or
daycare can be poisoned.
Children with too much lead in their bodies may
not look or feel sick. A simple blood test is the only way to know if your
child is being exposed to lead. Ask your doctor or health care provider to test
your child for lead.
Lead- based paint that is in good condition is
not an immediate problem. It may be a risk in the future, though.
Laws have been passed to ban lead in household
paint, gasoline and water pipes. However, many older homes may still have lead
in them. Finding out if there is lead in your home is the first step in
protecting your children’s health. The questions below can help.
Questions to
ask?
Lead
- Do you live in an older home? Many older
homes have lead- based paint or lead water pipes. Lead paint was banned in
1978. Homes built before 1950 are most likely to have lead.
- Is there cracking, chipping, or flaking
paint in your home?
- Are there places where paint is being
rubbed, such as on a door or in a window frame? This can make dust with lead in
it.
- Do you have water pipes made with lead, or
pipes joined with lead solder? Water that flows through them may contain lead.
Lead pipes are dull gray and scratch easily with a key or penny.
- Has your home been recently remodeled or
renovated? Projects may leave dust or paint chips with lead.
- Is there lead in the soil outside your home?
It can get there from paint on the outside of the house or from industry. Or
has it come from car exhaust from the days when gasoline contained lead.
Children can be poisoned if they play in soil that has lead in it or if someone
tracks the soilinside the home.
- Does someone you live with work where lead
is used? Some jobs that might create lead dust are: construction, bridge
building, sandblasting, ship building, plumbing, battery making and recycling,
car repair, furniture refinishing, and foundry casting. Workers can carry lead
dust into their home on clothing, skin, or shoes.
- Do you have children under six who have not
had a blood test for lead? Young children should be tested for lead. This is
especially true if you live in an older home, if your home has recently been
remodeled, or if a brother, sister or a playmate has tested high for lead. Ask
your doctor to test your children beginning at six months of age, and then
every year until age six.
- Have neighbor children or playmates ever had
a high blood lead test?
If you answered YES to any of these questions,
your children may be at risk for lead poisoning. Check out the Action Steps to find out what you can do to protect your
children’s health!
|
The blood
test for lead
- It only takes a small blood sample
to tell if your child has lead poisoning.
- Ask your health care provider about
testing.
- Lead levels are measured in
micrograms per deciliter (µg/ dL)
If your child’s level
is 10 µg/ dL or higher, it is too high.
You need to find out how lead is getting into their bodies.
- Your health care provider can help
you find out what to do.
|
 Action steps
Have your children
tested for lead
- This test is often free at local health
clinics.
Find out if your
home has lead
- You may need to have your home, soil or
water tested. Your local or state health department can tell you how to do this
with little or no cost. Many hardware stores also sell low- cost lead testing
kits.
- Don’t try to remove lead on your own.
It should be done by trained and certified workers. You can find a certified
lead paint removal company by contacting your local or state health department.
Getting rid of lead in the wrong way can make the problem worse! Children and
pregnant women need to stay away during a lead removal project.
Protect your
children from lead
- Wash children’s hands and face often
with soap and water, especially before they eat. Wash toys every week.
- Keep down lead- based paint dust with
housekeeping. Wipe window sills, floors, and other surfaces with paper towels,
warm water and soap once a week. Rinse well.
- Never sweep, vacuum or dry dust in a room
that has lead dust. You will not remove the harmful dust and can stir it up.
This includes porches which were often painted with lead paint.
- Don’t let children chew on, or put
their mouths on window sills. Keep cribs away from window sills and walls.
- If any remodeling is being done, be sure
you find out if work is happening on something that contains lead- based paint.
Never dry scrape or dry sand lead paint. Don’t try to burn it or torch it.
Children and pregnant women should stay away while work takes place. Test dust
for lead around the remodeling area afterwards.
- If you have lead pipes, or pipes joined with
lead solder, you can take steps to reduce the lead in your water
Never use hot water from the tap for
drinking, cooking or making formula. Hot water can take more lead out of the
pipes.
When you haven't used any water for a few
hours or over night, let the COLD water run for a few minutes before using it
again. Usually it gets colder. This clears out the water that was sitting in
the pipes that may have lead or other metals (See the chapter on drinking water).
- Have your water tested for lead. Call your
local or state health department to learn how.
- If someone in your home works with lead,
they can bring lead home on their clothes. Make sure they shower and change
clothes and shoes before coming in the house. Wash these clothes by themselves.
- If your yard or the yard your children's
daycare may have lead in the soil, don't let your children play there. Have the
soil tested for lead to make sure it's safe. Put in grass and other plants to
help keep children away from the soil in the mean time.
- Feed your children a healthy diet. Foods
with vitamin C, calcium, and iron can help reduce lead poisoning. Children with
lead poisoning often don't get enough iron or other minerals in their diets.
Making sure your children get enough of these nutrients can lower how much lead
their body takes in.
When In Doubt,
Check It Out
For blood tests, call your family doctor or
public health clinic.
For testing of paint samples and drinking
water, call your local health department.
For a packet of materials or questions about
lead, call the National Lead
Information Center, toll- free, (800) 424-LEAD
For information on lead in drinking water, call
the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline: (800) 426-4791 or visit the website at
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/.
Contact HUD about tenants' rights and other
housing issues at (800) HUDS-FHA -- http://www.hud.gov
For more information on Lead In and Around the
Home, see Home* A* Syst. The Home* A* Syst handbook gives more details about
this and other healthy home topics. (608) 262- 0024
http://www.uwex.edu/homeasyst
Next Chapter: Drinking Water
This chapter was adapted from
“Lead In and Around the Home: Identifying and Managing It’s
Sources,” by Karen Filchak, University of Connecticut Cooperative
Extension. In Home* A* Syst, An Environmental Risk- Assessment Guide for
the Home, ©1997 Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights
reserved. |
Get the Savvy Consumer Newsletter! (FREE)