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How Should a Home be Checked for Lead Contamination Hazards?
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
This article suggests where and how a home or other building should be tested for lead contamination hazards. To reduce the risk of lead poisoning attention is needed to more than just paint.
By offering simple steps to protect your family from lead poisoning, the original US CPSC document provided 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. However that particular document omitted attention to lead contamination sources in buildings other than paint.
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 independent material.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
How Should a Home or other Building be Checked for Lead Contamination Hazards?
While the original CPSC article focused on lead paint hazards (indeed a major source of lead contamination in some buildings), below we list additional potential sources of lead that should be considered. There is no doubt that no lead hazard list is exhaustive or therefore complete. Contact Us by email to suggest additions or corrections.
- Lead based paint used indoors and outdoors are introduced at Lead Based Paint and Lead Paint Surveys Details are at LEAD CONTAMINATION HAZARDS in the HOME.
- Lead-containing jewelry, pottery, and toys - Lead Toys, Jewelry in this article discusses this source. See LEAD CONTAMINATION HAZARDS in the HOME for additional advice. See LEAD TEST KIT for HOME USE for a simple test for lead on building surfaces, pottery, and toys.
- Lead in drinking water from lead plumbing or from the water supply itself. Lead in water is introduced at Lead Plumbing Lead in Water. For details on how to test for and remove lead from drinking water, including advice about test procedures to avoid missing or over-stating a lead in water problem, see LEAD CONTAMINATION in WATER, HOW to TEST.
Also see LEAD in WATER, ACTION LEVEL & REMEDIES and LEAD IN DRINKING WATER, HOW to REDUCE
- Airborne lead-containing soil & dust at highways and fields along highways - see Lead in Air - U.S. Lead Emissions Standards as well as lead-containing soils around buildings due to stripping of lead paint.
Suggestions for Checking a Building for Lead Based Paint
Just knowing that a home has lead-based paint may not tell you if there is a hazard.
You can get your home checked for lead hazards in one of two ways, or both:
- A paint inspection tells you the lead content of every painted surface in your home. It won't tell you whether the paint is a hazard or how you should deal with it.
- A lead paint risk assessment tells you if there are any sources of serious lead exposure (such as peeling paint and lead dust). It also tells you what actions to take to address these hazards.
Have qualified professionals do the work. The federal government is writing standards for inspectors and risk assessors. Some states might already have standards in place. Call your state agency for help with locating qualified professionals in your area (see below).
Trained professionals use a range of methods when checking your home, including:
- Visual inspection of paint condition and location.
- Lab tests of paint samples.
- Surface dust tests.
- A portable x-ray fluorescence machine.
Watch out: Home test kits for lead are available, but the federal government is still testing their reliability. These tests should not be the only method used before doing renovations or to assure safety.
Watch out for environmental testing and cleanup that are not performed by qualified experts. Details & examples of what can go wrong are at ASBESTOS REMOVAL, Amateur, Incomplete and Asbestos Removal, Certification.
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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- Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment
Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Technical Reference Guide purchased as a single order. Just enter INSPECTATRG in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
- 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
- "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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