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 | There is peace of mind when ruling out lead exposure |
| LeadCheck swabs are inexpensive and easy-to-use tests. |
| Individuals who did not have testing done when they moved into their homes have the opportunity to make sure there is no problem from lead exposure. |
| You get on-the-spot answers. |
| Description | Price |
|---|---|
| LeadCheck Swabs - 8 swabs | $24.90 |
| LeadCheck Swabs - 16 swabs | $34.95 |
| LeadCheck Water Test - 5 tests | $40.95 |
| LeadCheck Soil Test - 6 tests | $49.95 |
| Hair Analysis kit & lab work | $49.00 |
| Lead is a neurological toxin that can cause arrested development in children, along with attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. It also affects older persons, damaging the kidneys, the reproductive system, and production of blood cells. |
| Lead poisoning may cause vague symptoms such as vomiting, irritability, lethargy, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite. Because these symptoms are common in other conditions, lead toxicity may be unsuspected. return |
| The body tries to excrete toxins in various ways. One way that heavy
metals can be excreted is through the hair. To test for lead and other heavy
metals, a sample of hair is taken near the nape of the neck. This sample is
forwarded to a laboratory where it is analyzed for heavy metal content -
including lead, mercury, cadmium, etc. You receive a report of how your hair
ranks for heavy metals. |
| Blood tests screen only for recent lead exposure. Check with your pediatrician regarding regular testing for children under 6 years of age. If the lead exposure was more than one month prior to the blood test, the test may be negative
because lead is already be deposited in body tissues. |
| A lead analysis test kit may be available through your health care
professional. If your physician does not provide one, you can order a hair analysis test kit from
Enviro Health. See Order section. This kit includes instructions on taking the hair sample and mailing it to a cooperating laboratory. |
| Test results will be sent to you for discussion with your doctor. Enviro
Health has no trained medical professionals on staff and cannot advise on health issues.
If necessary, your doctor can discuss your report with laboratory staff. return |
| Lead paint was outlawed in 1978, but painters were allowed to use up their supplies.
Occasionally I find newer paint containing lead, because a painter added it
himself for increased durability. |
| Main sources of lead at home are from lead dust or dissolved lead in drinking water. Lead dust is released by friction at doors and windows painted with lead paint or flaking and chipping of deteriorated lead paint. |
| Contaminated soil is also a major source of lead. Soil contamination is
due to unleaded gasoline (from prior to 1978 for autos, but still in diesel
fuel), trash incineration, deteriorated exterior lead paint. The soil in
cities and near busy roads usually has elevated levels of lead. The LeadCheck Soil Test kit is sensitive to the proposed EPA guidelines of 400 ppm.
A laboratory soil test would be more sensitive. |
| Throwing batteries into the trash causes lead to leach into the ocean if the trash is dumped,
and you can ingest it by eating seafood. Properly dispose of batteries through your town's toxic waste disposal program. return |
| Certain chemicals change color in the presence of lead, such as in the LeadCheck swabs carried by
Enviro Health. This is an inexpensive type of testing that a homeowner can do.
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| What to test
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| XRF is the preferred technology for pre-purchase and pre-rental lead inspections according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). |
| Click for a discussion of XRF in pre-purchase lead
inspections. return |
| Houses built prior to 1978 usually have lead solder in their pipes. Older faucets frequently are another source of elevated lead levels. Older water mains in cities or towns may still be lead. Sometimes the connection between the water main and the house water service supply pipe is lead pipe. These connections are changed by law if work is done, but if work is not done, they remain in the ground. |
| It is wise to think preventively and use a method of water treatment that removes dissolved lead from drinking water. |
| Many water purifiers claim to remove 99% of lead from drinking water, but they are referring only to pieces of lead, such as from solder, that might break off and be trapped by the filter. They are not referring to the 1% of the more dangerous dissolved lead particles. A broken off piece of lead solder would pass through the body, anyway. It's the dissolved lead that is of more concern. When you think about it, even the little sieve in the faucet probably traps "99%" of lead - by weight. In other words, you may think your water purifier is removing lead, but it might not be removing dissolved lead. See the Products/Water Filtration section for information on reverse osmosis. |
| LeadCheck water tests are sensitive to the EPA limit of 15 ppb. return |
| The lead dust problem is exacerbated when an inefficient vacuum cleaner blows tiny particles of lead out the exhaust back into room air. See
Products/Vacuum Cleaner section for more details. |
| Most conventional - and many of allergy - vacuum cleaners release tiny
particulates back into room air. return |
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© 2001 May E. Dooley -
Enviro Health Environmental Home Inspections |
