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This article outlines where lead paint was commonly found on building interiors and on building exteriors. These visual clues help warn off building owners or contractors who are about to renovate an older building, or who want to know which surfaces are most at risk and most need to be examined or tested for lead. Actual testing to confirm the presence or absence of lead paint is recommended for older homes. This website 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.

Our page top photo of an older wood-sided building with peeling paint also shows how soil around a building may have been lead-contaminated even if the lead-based paint coated siding has since been replaced, re-painted, or covered with a newer material.

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.

When and Where is Lead Based Paint Found in Buildings?

In general, the older your home, the more likely it has lead-based paint. Our photo shows a building originally constructed in 1759, and which has undergone generations of paint application, coat on top of paint coat. Our opinion is that there is no reason to test this building for the presence of lead paint - it's a reasonable assumption that lead based paints are present on most painted surfaces in this case.

Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint. In 1978, the federal government banned lead-based paint from housing. 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.)

OPINION-DF: We have a special concern for both the hazards to house painters who often do not take precautions to protect themselves, and for homes that are re-painted without following good housekeeping and lead dust or lead paint chip control.

We recommend insisting that your painter wear appropriate protection while working on your home and that drop cloths be used to collect sanding and paint chips containing lead dust when the home is being prepared for re-painting. If this debris is left on the soil it may form a soil-lead contamination hazard to children later playing in the area close to the building.

Where is Lead Paint Most Likely to be a Hazard in Buildings?

Lead from paint chips, which you can see, and lead dust, which you can't always see, can both be serious hazards.

Lead-based paint that is in good condition is usually not a hazard. [DF-note: see comments at my other lead articles cited below, about lead painted window sash dust and toddler lead ingestion]

Peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking lead-based paint is a hazard and needs immediate attention.

Lead-based paint may also be a hazard when found on surfaces that children can chew or that get a lot of wear-and-tear. These areas include:

• Windows and window sills, particularly sliding double-hung or single hung window sashes that move a painted window frame up and down in a track.
• Doors, door jambs and door frames.
• Stairs, railings, and banisters that have been painted.
• Porches and fences that are painted, and painted gates and gate handles
• OPINION-DF: soils around older buildings that were probably painted with lead-based paint even if the siding was subsequently stripped, replaced, or sided-over. .

Lead dust can form when lead-based paint is dry scraped, dry 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 reenter the air when people vacuum, sweep, or walk through it.

Lead in soil can be a hazard when children play in bare soil or when people bring soil into the house on their shoes. Call your state agency (see below) to find out about soil testing for lead.

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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