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How to Test or Check Your Family for Lead Poisoning InspectAPedia®  -     Simple Steps To Test & Protect Your Family From Lead Contamination Hazards US CPSC Document #426 "How to Protect Your Family from Lead in the Home" with additional information and annotations Contact telephone numbers for state & federal agencies concerned with lead hazards

Here are some simple steps to test and protect your family from lead poisoning. This document provides advice for reducing the risk of lead poisoning for families living in homes where lead exposure is suspected, likely, or where lead contamination is actually confirmed by testing. Readers of this article should see our review of a Home Test Kit for Lead in on building surfaces located at LEAD TEST KIT for HOME USE. The same company offers a lead-in-water test, as do local health departments and private water testing labs in most cities. Also see Lead Contamination in Drinking Water: Testing & Correction - Advice.

The original U.S. CPSC document is public domain. We have made additions to the technical depth of this article and we have added additional important detail about lead hazards - these are indicated by a [bracketed note in italics]. The additional text or commentary, website design, links, and references are © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

US CPSC Suggestions on How to Test or Check Your Family for Lead Poisoning or Contaminants

Get your children tested if you think your home has high levels of lead.

A simple blood test can detect high levels of lead. Blood tests are important for:

• Children who are 6 months to 1 year old (6 months if you live in an older home that might have lead in the paint).
• Family members that you think might have high levels of lead.

If your child is older than 1 year, talk to your doctor about whether your child needs testing.

Your doctor or health center can do blood tests.

They are inexpensive and sometimes free.

Your doctor will explain what the test results mean.

Treatment for lead if adults or children have blood or bone lead levels that are too high can range from changes in diet to medication or a hospital stay.

See LEAD TEST KIT for HOME USE for a simple test for lead on building surfaces, pottery, and toys.

Lead Hazard Telephone Hotlines

The National Lead Information Center

Call 1-800-LEAD-FYI to learn how to protect children from lead poisoning.

For other information on lead hazards, call the center's clearinghouse at 1-800-424-LEAD. For the hearing impaired, call, TDD 1-800-526-5456 (FAX: 202-659-1192, Internet: EHC@CAIS.COM).

EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline

Call 1-800-426-4791 for information about lead in drinking water.

Consumer Product Safety Commission Hotline

To request information on lead in consumer products, or to report an unsafe consumer product or a product-related injury call 1-800-638-2772. (Internet: info@cpsc.gov). For the hearing impaired, call TDD 1-800-638-8270.

Also see Lead Enviro-Scare.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS GUIDE
LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE
  Lead levels in blood
  How lead enters the body
  Sources of Lead
  Lead Based Paint
  Lead Paint Surveys
  Lead Plumbing Lead in Water
  Lead Toys, Jewelry
  Report on the National Survey of Lead-Based Paint
  Lead in Air - U.S. Lead Emissions Standards
LEAD CONTAMINATION HAZARDS in the HOME
  Protect Your Family from Lead
  Lead in Homes Before 1978
  Lead Hazard Warnings
  Lead in the Body
  Lead's Effects on People
  Extreme Lead Poisoning Symptoms, Effects
  Testing Your Family for Lead
  Lead-Based Paint Uses in Buildings
  Lead paint hazard spots in buildings
  Checking Your Home for Lead
  What You Can Do about Lead in the Home
  Remodeling & Lead Hazards
  Other Lead Sources
  Help Numbers for Lead Poisoning
  Government Contacts for Lead Info
LEAD CONTAMINATION in WATER, HOW to TEST
  Lead Contamination from Water Lines
  Lead in Water, Health Risks
  Lead Contamination Limits in Drinking Water
  Lead Test Results Affected by Test Methods
Lead Exposure Hazards Indoors
LEAD HAZARDS & FEAR: Enviro-Scare
LEAD IN DRINKING WATER, HOW to REDUCE
  Lead in Drinking Water
  Health Effects of Lead
  Lead in Drinking Water
  Steps You Can Take
  Tests for Lead Contamination in Water
LEAD TEST KIT for HOME USE
LEAD WATER PIPING HAZARDS & REMEDIES
  Allowable Lead Levels in Water
  Lead Level vs. Test Methods

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• US CPSC Document #426 "How to Protect Your Family from Lead in the Home" with additional information and annotations
• "Standard Operating Procedure for Determining Lead (Pb) and Its Availability in Children's Metal Jewelery", US CPSC, 2/3/2005
• Lead in Drinking Water: Advice
• Tests for Lead Contamination in Water
• Lead in Drinking Water - Testing Problems/Advice
• Lead Hazards: Advice, evaluation, mitigation, services - lead paint, lead in plumbing, lead in water, air, dust
• How to Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home U.S. CPSC publication with additional links and resource references
• Lead Hazards in Buildings, Dust, Paint, Water: General Advice, Testing Procedures, Illnesses with additional links and resource references for Lead Hazards
• Lead in Drinking Water : Advice
• Lead Testing & Correcting Contamination from Lead Water Supply Lines/Entry Mains - Lead Pipe Problems/Advice
• "Dally No Longer, Get the Lead Out," Jane Brody, The New York Times," 17 January 2006 p. F6. This is a good article for summarizing the lead issue.
• SOP for Determining Lead (Pb) and And Its Availability in Children's Jewelry
• Toy Industry Policy on Lead in Toys, International Council of Toy Industries, October 8, 1997

  "The voluntary standard established in the United States under ASTM F-963 and the European standard under EN-71 for soluble lead in toys (lead which may migrate from the toy and be ingested by the child) is 90 parts-per-million. At that level, any intentional use of lead in paints or other surface coatings containing lead would immediately put the toy over the permitted limit."

  "Under federal law, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) enforces a standard for total lead of 600 ppm. Recently, the CPSC refused to lower the lead limit in paint and other similar surface coating materials to 100 ppm after finding that most paints sold in the United States were already at or below that level and, therefore, these materials did not present an unreasonable risk of injury warranting further government regulation."

• Extreme Lead Poisoning Symptoms Suggested by Feb 2006 NY Times Article on Kosovo Roma Camps
• Environmental Hazard Testing, Effects, Remedies, Prevention - our main Enviro-Haz web page
• Drinking Water Contamination and Pollution How to Detect, Test, Correct, and Prevent Well Water Contamination - US EPA - Groundwater
• ...

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