Protecting Your Child from Lead Poisoning: What to Look For and Steps to Take
Keeping a house lead-safe is critical for a child’s safety, health, and future. Understanding the basics of lead safety is an important first step to protecting a child from lead poisoning. Read on to learn more!
NEVER do renovation, repair or painting work, no matter how small (i.e. just adding an electrical outlet, painting/surface prep work, or replacing a window’s sash cords) until you understand how to control & contain dust and properly clean up afterwards. Such DIY projects are a major source of childhood lead poisoning, when all the owner or tenant was trying to do was to improve their home. See the DIY information in Resources for Property Owners and Parents for information to learn more about controlling dust and clean up protocols.
When hiring a contractor for work that will disturb painted surfaces, make sure they are RRP-certified (EPA’s renovation repair and painting rule) and each worker at your home is also RRP-trained. Evidence that RRP procedures are being followed includes the use of lots of plastic sheeting to enclose the work area, wetting down surfaces before disturbing them, workers using extreme care to not track dust into other parts of the house and extensive clean-up procedures using both a HEPA vacuum and wet washing. If you like doing your own repairs, consider taking the 8-hour RRP training course.
Children under age 6 are most at risk due to a number of factors:
Lead adversely impacts the development and functioning of the brain and nervous system. Because young children’s brains are rapidly developing, they are most at risk.
Younger children are constantly touching floors, carpets, steps and other flat surfaces where dust accumulates, and putting their wet hands and toys into their mouths. If the dust contains even a tiny amount of lead, they will end up ingesting it.
Young children’s bodies absorb lead at a much higher rate than adults.
There are several no-cost approaches to protect a child from ingesting lead:
Wash their hands often, and always before they eat. Also wash their toys often, especially toys that go in their mouths.
Lay an infant down on a clean blanket rather than just on the carpet or upholstered furniture. If a pacifier falls on the floor, rinse it off well.
Once a child begins crawling, pay special attention to keeping their play area surfaces clean (floors, steps, rails and window sills in the kitchen, TV room, halls, the child’s bedroom, etc.)
Once a child begins playing outside, pay special attention to bare soil in their play areas. At the least, cover bare spots with a generous layer of mulch.
A healthy well-rounded diet has many benefits. As it pertains to lead, foods higher in iron and calcium help reduce the body’s absorption of lead, as do foods lower in fat (avoid fried foods).
Think about what is being tracked into the house (via shoes and paws.) Consider taking off shoes at the door, laying down a mat, and cleaning entrance floors & mats often.
Finally, pay attention to “hot spots” for lead. Spending a nice summer day on a wooden porch can be toxic for a child. Some basements can be “hot”. The soil under wood-sided exterior surfaces, including old garages and sheds, will likely be very high in lead content, as is soil under wood porches. Finally, some children like to chew on window sills and other protruding surfaces. Lead-based paint tastes good while other types of paints do not.
The core theme above is that young children constantly put their hands and toys into their mouth, so when the dust and soil they touch have traces of lead, they will ingest it. To help reduce this risk, keep the surfaces they play on clean, wash their hands often, and provide a healthy well-rounded diet.
The age of a home is important. Homes built pre-1940 have the most lead-based paint, followed by homes built in 1940-59. The introduction of latex paint and an alternative to lead-based white tint resulted in fewer homes built using lead-based paints in the 60’s and 70’s. In older homes, exterior paint was almost always lead-based. This paint was also viewed as the most durable product for interior surfaces and was used most frequently on trim, cabinets and bathroom/kitchen walls). Residential lead-based paint was removed from the market in 1978. For families that live in homes built post-1978, the primary risk of lead is what is being tracked into the home (via shoes and paws), and for people who work in construction and various other fields, what is brought home from work.
Lead-Safe Services of Greater Cleveland is dedicated to assisting homeowners and landlords think through how to make their homes lead-safe. Please contact us.