Indoor Air Quality

Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home

Before we knew how harmful it could be, lead was used in paint, gasoline, water pipes, and many other products. Lead was an ingredient in paint manufactured prior to 1978, and especially prior to 1950. The amount of lead in paint began dropping in the 1950s as manufacturers used less-hazardous ingredients. In 1978, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the use of lead-based paint in toys, furniture, schools, and residences. However, approximately 3/4 of the nation’s housing built before 1978 contains some lead-based paint. When properly maintained and managed, this paint poses little risk. However, 1.7 million children have blood lead levels above safe limits, mostly due to exposure to lead-based paint hazards (HUD).

Lead poisoning has been called the most serious environmental health problem facing young children, but it is completely avoidable. It comes from contact with the lead. The danger is created when sanding, scraping, or burning off the paint creates clouds of lead-laced dust that can be inadvertently inhaled or swallowed or when the paint is chipping, flaking, or peeling; the small pieces can be eaten by young children. Other places where we come in contact with lead are in the soil around the home, in drinking water, or in food.

What is Lead Poisoning?

Lead poisoning means having high concentrations of lead in the body. The Centers for Disease Control consider a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per deciliter risky for children. Even children who appear healthy may have high levels of lead.

Lead poisoning causes damage to a child’s brain, kidneys, and stomach. Lead poisoning can slow a child’s development and cause learning and behavior problems. A child may have lead poisoning and not feel sick. Or the child may have stomachaches, headaches, a poor appetite, trouble sleeping, or be cranky, tired, or restless.

The only way to tell if a child has lead poisoning is to have him or her tested. A blood test takes only minutes, and results should be available within a week. The Texas Department of Health recommends that all children 6 months to 6 years of age be checked by their doctor, clinic, or local health department to determine if they are at high risk for lead poisoning.

Who Gets Lead Poisoning?

Anyone can get it, but children under age 7 are at greatest risk because their bodies are not fully grown and are easily damaged. Pregnant women should also avoid lead dust and not use foodware made with lead that could contaminate food. Women planning to have a baby should be tested for lead. Lead in a mother’s body can cause a baby to be born small and too early. Construction workers, painters, and any individuals who renovate older homes have a high risk to get lead poisoning if they do not take the necessary precautions.

The risk of getting lead poisoning is worse if a child:

  • lives in an older home (built/constructed before 1978, and even more so before 1960).
  • does not eat regular meals (an empty stomach accepts lead more easily).
  • does not eat enough foods with iron or calcium.
  • has parents who work in lead-related jobs.
  • has played in the same places as brothers, sisters, and friends who have been poisoned.

How to Test for Lead

Thanks to new testing technology, locating lead in your home has gotten faster, easier, and more accurate. Lead test kits can be purchased at many hardware stores and home improvement stores. These lead test kits have limitations as they can only give you a positive or negative result—they cannot tell you the amount of lead that is present. For a complete and thorough search for lead in and around the home, a certified inspector should be called. Contact the Texas Department of Health’s Environmental Lead branch at (512) 834-6612 or (888) 778-9440 to obtain a list of certified inspectors and risk assessors.

The inspector can use a cell phone-sized X-ray fluorescence analyzer (XRF) by resting it against any painted surface and pushing a button. In a few seconds, the device displays how much lead the paint has and how deeply it is buried. The cost for a whole-house inspection with XRF runs between $200 and $600 and is non-invasive on the walls or woodwork.

What to Do if You Have Lead

If an inspection uncovers lead, that doesn’t automatically mean that all paint has be to stripped. If lead is present, a home owner faces three basic choices:

  • live with it (and take some basic precautions),
  • seal it off, or
  • remove it.

Paint that is intact may not be a hazard. However, paint that is flaking or deteriorating is a problem. If you must remove lead-based paint, have it professionally removed.

There are things to do immediately to protect your child:

  • Keep your child away from paint chips and dust.
  • Wet-mop floors and wipe down surfaces often. Be sure to clean the space where the window sash rests on the sill. Keeping the floor clear of paint chips, dust, and dirt is easy and very important. Do not sweep or vacuum lead-based paint chips or lead dust with an ordinary vacuum cleaner. Lead dust is so fine it will pass through a regular vacuum cleaner bag and spread into the air you breathe. Only use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
  • Make sure children wash their hands frequently and always before eating.
  • Wash toys, teething rings, and pacifiers.

References

  • Texas Department of Health Environmental Lead Branch, Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/beh/lead/2.htm#Frequently_Asked_ Questions (FAQs)
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Poisoning and Your Children, Publication 800-B-92-0002, September 1995. http://www.nsc.org/ehc/nlic/ledepa.htm.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Poisoning and Your Children, Publication 800-B-92-0002, September 1992. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/lead.html.

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Prepared by Janie L. Harris, M.Ed., CRS, Extension Housing and Environment Specialist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M System. 1999.

Last updated: 26 July, 2010

Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.