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Metals Home | Lead | Metals FAQ
What you can do about Lead in your home Lead poisoning is a serious, debilitating ailment that afflicts hundreds of thousands of children each year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, as many as 900,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5 have dangerously high blood-lead levels. In fact, new research suggests that even trace amounts of lead in the blood can negatively affect a child's intelligence. Exposure to excessive levels of lead can increase blood pressure and cause digestive problems, kidney damage, and nerve disorders in adults, and brain and nervous system damage, learning and hearing problems, and stunted growth in children. The primary source of lead poisoning for everyday Americans is from exposure to lead-based paint in older homes. Although the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the sale of lead-based paint in 1978, people living in homes built before 1978 are potentially at risk for lead poisoning. If you suspect your home might contain lead paint, you should have it tested. Home kits are cheap and widely available, but are not quantitative and can be inaccurate. The best results come from laboratory analysis. The Wisconsin Occupational Health Laboratory was one of the first labs in the nation to obtain accreditation for lead analysis. Let our experienced staff give you the peace of mind that can only come from precise scientific examination of your sample! We require approximately one square inch of paint for analysis. It is best to take the sample from an area where the paint is cracked, chipped, or peeled away from the surface, as loose paint is most likely to be ingested by young children. Place the sample in a clean, labeled container and send it to the address below with a brief letter containing your name, address, phone number and specify lead analysis. The cost is $22 per sample. Results will usually be available within one to two weeks from the day we receive the sample(s). A report detailing our procedure, quality control results, and the percent lead in each sample will be provided. You can then compare your results with federal and state limits. The EPA considers paint to be contaminated with lead when the amount of lead exceeds 0.5%. The lower limit for the state of Wisconsin, however, is 0.06%. If you find lead in excess of 0.06% for one or more of your samples, you need to decide how to handle the situation. Unfortunately, the staff at WOHL is not qualified to help you with those decisions. We recommend you contact your local city or county health department for advice on how to handle your situation. In Madison, call the Health Department's lead program at 266-5817 for assistance. For further information, we recommend checking out the following websites: WOHL is also happy to test wipe, soil and air samples for the presence of lead. |
