6 Tips You Can Do Today to Protect Your Family From Toxic Lead Exposure

 

 

 

 

Panic. Helplessness. Fear. Shame.

Did your child just have a positive lead blood test? Or, maybe you’ve just read about how common lead paint hazards are in pre-1978 homes and other buildings. Or, maybe you have just realized how invisible toxic lead paint dust can be, in the home and in your child and yourself and you are starting to panic.

It is easy to panic, and also easy to become overwhelmed by a problem that we have all been taught to ignore for decades. Well, as scientists, engineers, and public health advocates, here are tips that we have picked up over the last 25 years on things that you can do TODAY to keep your family safe from toxic lead exposure.

1. Get a Blood Test.  Have the lead levels tested to get an idea of recent exposure (over the past few weeks and months). Anything other than “undetectable” is cause to look for the source of exposure, eliminate it, and do follow up testing to ensure that the lead level is decreasing. The human body has no good way to expel lead once absorbed, and it can remain in body for many decades, so preventing exposure is key. As for the actual level (not just “positive” or “negative”) and for the accuracy of the test.

2. Test Your Home. Lead paint wasn’t banned in the U.S. until 1978, even though it was a known hazard for hundreds of years prior. Use a Healthy Home Instant Lead Test Kit to check common areas like windows, doors, and baseboards for lead paint. Areas with chipping paint are important to test, but also area where only small cracks can allow very fine particles of toxic lead dust to escape and accumulate to the point where normal hand to mouth activity, especially in children, and lead to dangerous exposure.

3. Frequent Cleaning. Even if you can’t replace all the windows in your home if you test and find them to be a source of lead paint dust, you can manage the situation by frequent cleaning. DO NOT VACUUM – it will only spread the very fine lead paint dust around. Wet wipe up any dust, and immediately dispose of safely. LockUpLead Neutralizer is an excellent choice for this routine cleaning.

4. Wash Hands and Remove Shoes. Especially when children have been playing in or around bare soil near the home, or inside near window or other potential sources of invisible lead paint dust, hand washing and leaving shoes at the door can greatly reduce toxic lead exposure.

5. Follow a Healthy Diet. Because lead mimics calcium in the body, it is particularly important for children, whose bodies are aggressively accumulating calcium as they grow, to have a diet rich in iron and calcium. Children with healthier diets will absorb less toxic lead.

6. Follow Safe Lead Practices when renovating, repairing, or repainting your pre-1978 home. Living in a home with lead paint can be very safe, as long as you are aware of the potential hazard and follow some simple steps to avoid creating hazards by generating a lot a lead paint dust. See other blog posts on how to Follow the 3 C’s to Control, Contain, and Clean any lead paint dust that is disturbed. Wet-scrape paint with LockUpLead Neutralizer, use disposable drop cloths and mist chips and debris with LockUpLead Neutralizer, and clean areas with LockUpLead Neutralizer after the work is complete. For peace of mind, test the work area after cleaning is complete to ensure that no invisible toxic lead paint dust remains (see tip #2).

With a little awareness, and following these simple tips, you can keep yourself and your family much safer from common lead paint hazards. If you have any questions, we are always happy to help. Just email us at info@lockuplead.com !