Identifying and Dealing with Lead Paint in the Home

Where Lead-Based Paint Is Found

Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint. The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. Some states stopped its use even earlier. Lead can be found:

• In homes in the city, country, or suburbs.
• In apartments, single-family homes, and both private and public housing.
• Inside and outside of the house.
• In soil around a home. (Soil can pick up lead from exterior paint or other sources such as past use of leaded gas in cars.)

Checking Your Family for Lead

To reduce your child's exposure to lead, get your child checked, have your home tested (especially if your home has paint in poor condition and was built before 1978), and fix any hazards you may have.

Children's blood lead levels tend to increase rapidly from 6 to 12 months of age, and tend to peak at 18 to 24 months of age.

Consult your doctor for advice on testing your children. A simple blood test can detect high levels of lead. Blood tests are usually recommended for:

• Children at ages 1 and 2.
• Children or other family members who have been exposed to high levels of lead.
• Children who should be tested under your state or local health screening plan. Your doctor can explain what the test results mean and if more testing will be needed.

Identifying Lead Hazards

Lead-based paint is usually not a hazard if it is in good condition, and it is not on an impact or friction surface, like a window. It is defined by the federal government as paint with lead levels greater than or equal to 1.0 milligram per square centimeter, or more than 0.5% by weight.

Deteriorating lead-based paint (peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking or damaged) is a hazard and needs immediate attention. It may also be a hazard when found on surfaces that children can chew or that get a lot of wear-and-tear, such as:

• Windows and window sills.
• Doors and door frames.
• Stairs, railings, banisters, and porches.

Lead dust can form when lead-based paint is scraped, sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub together. Lead chips and dust can get on surfaces and objects that people touch. Settled lead dust can re-enter the air when people vacuum, sweep, or walk through it. The following two federal standards have been set for lead hazards in dust:

• 40 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) and higher for floors, including carpeted floors.
• 250 µg/ft2 and higher for interior window sills.

Lead in soil can be a hazard when children play in bare soil or when people bring soil into the house on their shoes. The following two federal standards have been set for lead hazards in residential soil:

• 400 parts per million (ppm) and higher in play areas of bare soil.
• 1,200 ppm (average) and higher in bare soil in the remainder of the yard.

The only way to find out if paint, dust and soil lead hazards exist is to test for them. The next page describes the most common methods used.

Checking Your Home for Lead

You can get your home tested for lead in several different ways:

• A paint inspection tells you whether your home has lead-based paint and where it is located. It won’t tell you whether or not your home currently has lead hazards.
• A risk assessment tells you if your home currently has any lead hazards from lead in paint, dust, or soil. It also tells you what actions to take to address any hazards.
• A combination risk assessment and inspection tells you if your home has any lead hazards and if your home has any lead-based paint, and where the lead-based paint is located.

Hire a trained and certified testing professional who will use a range of reliable methods when testing your home.

• Visual inspection of paint condition and location.
• A portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine.
• Lab tests of paint, dust, and soil samples.

There are state and federal programs in place to ensure that testing is done safely, reliably, and effectively. Contact your state or local agency for more information, or call 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) for a list of contacts in your area.

Home test kits for lead are available, but may not always be accurate. Consumers should not rely on these kits before doing renovations or to assure safety.

What You Can Do Now To Protect Your Family

If you suspect that your house has lead hazards, you can take some immediate steps to reduce your family’s risk:

• If you rent, notify your landlord of peeling or chipping paint.
• Clean up paint chips immediately.
• Clean floors, window frames, window sills, and other surfaces weekly. Use a mop or sponge with warm water and a general all-purpose cleaner or a cleaner made specifically for lead. REMEMBER: NEVER MIX AMMONIA AND BLEACH PRODUCTS TOGETHER SINCE THEY CAN FORM A DANGEROUS GAS.
• Thoroughly rinse sponges and mop heads after cleaning dirty or dusty areas.
• Wash children’s hands often, especially before they eat and before nap time and bed time.
• Keep play areas clean. Wash bottles, pacifiers, toys, and stuffed animals regularly.
• Keep children from chewing window sills or other painted surfaces.
• Clean or remove shoes before entering your home to avoid tracking in lead from soil.
• Make sure children eat nutritious, low-fat meals high in iron and calcium, such as spinach and dairy products. Children with good diets absorb less lead.

Reducing Lead Hazards In The Home

In addition to day-to-day cleaning and good nutrition:

• You can temporarily reduce lead hazards by taking actions such as repairing damaged painted surfaces and planting grass to cover soil with high lead levels. These actions (called “interim controls”) are not permanent solutions and will need ongoing attention.
• To permanently remove lead hazards, you should hire a certified lead “abatement” contractor. Abatement (or permanent hazard elimination) methods include removing, sealing, or enclosing lead-based paint with special materials. Just painting over the hazard with regular paint is not permanent removal.

Always hire a person with special training for correcting lead problems—someone who knows how to do this work safely and has the proper equipment to clean up thoroughly. Certified contractors will employ qualified workers and follow strict safety rules as set by their state or by the federal government.

Once the work is completed, dust cleanup activities must be repeated until testing indicates that lead dust levels are below the following:

• 40 micrograms per square foot (µg/ft2) for floors, including carpeted floors;
• 250 µg/ft2 for interior windows sills; and
• 400 µg/ft2 for window troughs. Call your state or local agency for help in locating certified professionals in your area and to see if financial assistance is available.

Remodeling or Renovating a Home With Lead-Based Paint

Take precautions before your contractor or you begin remodeling or renovating anything that disturbs painted surfaces (such as scraping off paint or tearing out walls):

• Have the area tested for lead-based paint.
• Do not use a belt-sander, propane torch, high temperature heat gun, dry scraper, or dry sandpaper to remove lead-based paint. These actions create large amounts of lead dust and fumes. Lead dust can remain in your home long after the work is done.
• Temporarily move your family (especially children and pregnant women) out of the apartment or house until the work is done and the area is properly cleaned. If you can't move your family, at least completely seal off the work area.
• Follow other safety measures to reduce lead hazards. You can find out about other safety measures by calling 1-800-424-LEAD. Ask for the brochure “Reducing Lead Hazards When Remodeling Your Home.” This brochure explains what to do before, during, and after renovations.

If you have already completed renovations or remodeling that could have released lead-based paint or dust, get your young children tested and follow the steps outlined in this brochure.

Other Sources of Lead

• Drinking water. Your home might have plumbing with lead or lead solder. Call your local health department or water supplier to find out about testing your water. You cannot see, smell, or taste lead, and boiling your water will not get rid of lead. If you think your plumbing might have lead in it:
  
  • Use only cold water for drinking and cooking.
  • Run water for 15 to 30 seconds before drinking it, especially if you have not used your water for a few hours.
• The job. If you work with lead, you could bring it home on your hands or clothes. Shower and change clothes before coming home. Launder your work clothes separately from the rest of your family's clothes.
• Old painted toys and furniture.
• Food and liquids stored in lead crystal or lead-glazed pottery or porcelain.
• Lead smelters or other industries that release lead into the air.
• Hobbies that use lead, such as making pottery or stained glass, or refinishing furniture.
• Folk remedies that contain lead, such as “greta” and “azarcon” used to treat an upset stomach.

Identifying Lead in the Home
To identify the presence of lead-based paint in the home, it is recommended that painted surfaces be evaluated with an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine. The XRF is a portable measuring device that can be used on an unlimited number of surfaces and provide results on-site. These qualities make using the XRF the most thorough, non-invasive testing method available. It takes a qualified operator between two and four hours to complete an evaluation of a house.

Other types of tests involve chemical or laboratory analysis of painted surfaces, paint chips or dust.  Laboratory analysis of wipe samples of dust is used to determine the presence of lead dust.  A tester uses a cloth pad to dust a predetermined area of the floor or windowsill and the sample is then analyzed in a laboratory for the presence of lead.  Chemical testing of painted surfaces by performing a chemical spot test or swipe test are used to determine the presence of lead in the surface paint.  The chemicals used will produce a change in color to indicate the presence of lead.  Since there are several concerns and limitations to chemical testing, including the toxicity of the chemicals and low accuracy, this method is not recommended. Finally, paint chips can be analyzed under an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer to determine if the paint contains lead. A paint sample is taken from a painted surface and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Though this analysis is more accurate, this method is generally expensive and used to confirm XRF test results.