What was your child’s lead test result and how worried were you?
My 14 month old had his test recently and it came back as a 5. I’m kind of freaked out about it. I read that 10 and above is the level of concern, but all of this “research” says that any amount “could” cause all of these horrible effects. The only lead exposure I could think of would be the dust from some window sills that have some old lead paint under the newer paint which is peeling some. It is not in a location where he can touch it and the peeling is not falling on the floor. So I guess there could be some in the air. When we first got the house I tested the paint on the window, but not the paint below the surface paint. I’m really beating myself up. But the slightly elevated level could have been through contact with his toys, living in a mining town, near the interstate, who knows?
Let me know your experience.
Thanks
5 is ok…
My niece had a 14! She’s alright, she moved out of the apartment they lived in because the landlord wouldn’t do anything about it! Gave her a box of Cascade dishwasher powder and told her to use that to scrub the walls daily!
My youngest came back 9! I painted every unpainted wall in the house and had it retested 2 months later and it went down to 6…
Your baby is fine…but, I would definitely paint any and all walls and windows that haven’t been painted in the last 5 years or so…just to be safe. They can also come in contact with the lead dust in dirt outside…so there isn’t too much that you can do when it comes to that! Just make sure that you don’t let him put his hands in his mouth when ya’ll are outside..and wash wash wash with warm soapy water everytime you come in and before eating or drinking anything. If you have any of those toys that have been recalled because of lead paint..get them back to the store for a refund…you can google mattel toy recall….and it gives you the whole list.
Good luck! 5 isn’t too much to worry about, but being a mom, it’s hard not too…just use precautions and he’ll be just fine…
UPDATE:::everyone has some lead in their system…it’s natural…the “average normal” is around 3….so you see 5 is quite normal….it’s when it gets closer to 10 and above that it causes concern…I would say, in my professional opinion and in personal experience that if you know of things around your house that contain lead, fix them…now you probably won’t be able to change out things like lead pipes and all of that but from what I hear, as long as you don’t use hot tap water for cooking then it should be ok….
Hygenall Introduces Hand Wipes to Reduce Risk of Lead Exposure