How to Know If You and Your Family Are at Risk of Leadership

Home Depot recently had to pay compensation for using home renovation contractors who were not certified to properly handle old lead paint they might encounter on the job. Until 1978, toxic metal was common in home paint, but it’s not the only place lead can show up in your home without your knowledge. Here’s how to spot lead in or near your home and how to deal with it.

How to determine the lead content in water

Most tap water is safe , but in a world where the Flint water crisis could hit, we understand if you don’t want to automatically trust it.

Your water utility sends you a report annually, which they call a Consumer Confidence Report. Lead levels are required by law to be reported if found. The CDC has a guide to understanding the report . If you do not pay your water bills, you will not receive your report in the mail, but many local reports are available online here . This tool will help you find the water utility where you are, but the most reliable way to find out who is providing you with water is to check your bill or ask the person who pays your bills. For example, your landlord or administrative offices at your school or workplace should be able to tell you.

Water passing through lead and copper pipes must be treated with anti-corrosion agents to minimize the amount of lead that can be trapped when flowing through the pipes, and water utilities must test the water and notify you if any lead is found. Many (but not all) will also provide free lead testing for your home if you request it.

If you don’t trust a plumbing test or get your water from a private well, there are independent laboratories that can test your water for lead. The EPA has a list of certified laboratories here .

Water filters can help, although they may not be a complete solution. In Flint, lead levels are so high – 4000 ppb in some homes – that water is still dangerous even after being filtered . Certified filters can remove 96% lead at 150 ppb or less.

The public safety group NSF International has a searchable database of water filters so you can find out which brands are filtering lead or any other contaminants that may be of concern to you. Not every filter can do the job: Brita filters do not claim to be able to filter lead . However, there is a filter jug ​​that does; it is manufactured by ZeroWater and sold at Target and Walgreen’s.

Why Your Soil May Have Lead and What to Do About It

Another important source of lead exposure is lead, which used to be found in gasoline. Don’t assume the lead is gone, although today all pumps are pumping unleaded. All that lead had to go somewhere, and wherever there was heavy car or truck traffic, it eventually accumulated. The soil near busy roads – assuming those roads were congested before 1986, when leaded petrol was banned – is a good place to look for it, as are the homes, courtyards and parks built around them. Lead can also remain in industrial facilities, even if the plant was demolished a long time ago to make way for your home. Lead dust from paint can also enter the soil.

How much should you worry? It’s a difficult question. The CDC says it is most dangerous for young children who actually eat dirt, and even so, the problem depends on the child’s age, diet, and general health. The states also disagree on how much lead in soil is an issue: The EPA standard is 300 ppm, but Minnesota uses 100 as the cut-off point, and California goes even lower, to 80. At 300 ppm, the extension says A: A child will have to eat about three-quarters of a teaspoon of mud every week to reach the “anxiety level” in their blood.

Plants grown with lead do not tend to collect lead from the soil . But lead soil can get on, for example, root crops in the garden, and children crawling down the street can end up putting dirt or dirty objects in their mouths. Their dirty shoes can also track this dirt inside.

Soil testing is a little more difficult than testing for lead in water or paint. Consumer test kits are n’t great for detecting lead in soil , and expensive laboratory tests have their pitfalls too. Unless you have a particular reason to worry about soil, it’s best to skip testing and just do your best to make sure you – and especially your kids – don’t eat the dirt and quickly clean it off when it gets dirty.

If you are concerned about lead in your garden vegetables, try to position your garden away from old houses and busy roads, if possible, and consider keeping the soil alkaline and well fertilized . You can also peel potatoes and the outer leaves of things like cabbage. Another option is to grow these vegetables on a hill filled with soil you bought elsewhere.

Even indoors, the floor can be contaminated with dirt on the shoes. So take your shoes off indoors if you have children crawling on the floor and putting things in their mouths. Remember, your yard is not the only place where you might encounter lead dust. Other sources might include your workplace if you work in construction or metalworking. There is also a lot of lead dust in the shooting ranges .

What you need to know about lead paint

In 1978, the federal government banned the use of lead paint in homes, so if you buy or live in a previously built home, you may have lead paint somewhere. However, some states and cities have banned this before. Lead carbonate is an excellent paint pigment and retains its thickness and opacity (today titanium dioxide often does this job). The only downside was that it was toxic. Hence the phase-out.

There are consumer lead paint test kits out there and we have excellent guidance on how to use them . If you live in an older home, especially one that has a lot of original “charm,” it may be easier to assume there is lead in it and act accordingly.

If you have lead paint on your walls, don’t worry. If it doesn’t flake off and nothing prevents it from forming lead dust, you can simply paint over it with lead-free paint . Better yet, use a sealant that’s actually designed to seal the lead.

When you want to make a renovation, you face a bigger problem. Even something as simple as replacing a window can be a headache. Repairs can kick up dust, which is when lead can be airborne or deposited on other surfaces. By the way, if you have dust or paint debris in your home that may contain lead, vacuuming it up can exacerbate the problem as lead dust spreads in the air. Either use a HEPA vacuum cleaner if you have one, or simply wipe off the dust with a damp paper towel.

If you are looking to renovate or improve your home, make sure you hire someone who understands how to deal with lead hazard mitigation, or if you plan to do it yourself, use lead-safe working practices. The EPA has instructions for DIYers and a list of certified restorers . Here is a video showing which precautions are used:

Families with children and pregnant women need to pay special attention to lead.

Lead is the hardest hit for children because it affects their developing brains. Adults can also get lead poisoning, but it takes much more lead to affect an adult and the symptoms are milder. Symptoms of lead poisoning in adults can include fatigue and nausea, but can also cause nervous system problems such as neuropathies .

However, if you are pregnant or have children, this is really something to worry about. High lead levels can cause miscarriage or stillbirth, and can also affect the brain of a developing fetus. Children under the age of five are at greatest risk from lead exposure because their brains are growing very rapidly during this time.

Obstetricians and pediatricians usually ask about lead exposure to see if it makes sense to test for lead levels. They may ask you, for example, how old your home is, where you got your water from, or if you have done any renovations in your home lately. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends blood tests for lead only if the child has high lead levels . So if there is anything in your life or home that makes you think lead is a problem, do not hesitate to bring it up at your doctor’s appointment.

Your doctor will discuss the results with you, but in general, 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood is your current “anxiety level.” At this point, you will be asked to inspect your home for possible sources of lead (such as water, soil, and paint) and possibly check them. Once the lead levels are above 45 micrograms, your doctor will likely tell you that the problem is serious enough to warrant chelation therapy , in which they are trying to actually remove the lead from the bloodstream. I don’t have to talk about it, but chelation is a complex process that must be performed by healthcare professionals and not something you can or should do with supplements or go through without evidence of metal poisoning .

Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Lead poisoning is definitely a problem in this country, but not everywhere and there is no need to worry. Discuss the risk to your child with his doctor and take steps to reduce the risk to your family.

This post was originally published in March 2016 and has been updated on December 18, 2020 to give an updated context and align with the current Lifehacker style.