lead in my home, need support!

[Solose]

A friend that lives in my neighborhood recently told me her child's lead level is 8, which is not high enough to be considered poisoning, but is approaching that level. I got so worried, I had the county send a health inspector to our home. She just came today and I found we have extremely high lead in our window wells!
I feel so stupid. I saw from the start that the paint was chipping but I just didn't think much of it. The highest level was in ds' room, where we usually have the windows open and the fan on while he sleeps, so I am extremely nervous that he has a high level of lead. I also don't wash his hands as much I probably should, and I sometimes let him eat things he dropped on the floor.He was tested but I won't find out for 2 weeks what the results are. I am just so mad at myself. We could have rented in a newer neighborhood but instead chose this one. I had no idea you could have someone come by your house and do a lead inspection.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Anyone have lead in their homes? Do you think if have kept the windows open all the time my child will definitely have a high level? I am going crazy waiting for the results.

[reducereuserecycle]

try not to panic but i know it is hard waiting!

start focusing on ways to absorb what lead could be in dc....i know garlic is great to "absorb" lead....i don't know other foods that might be beneficial to eat but you could research on that.

now that you are aware of the problem you can keep the windows shut, dust the window seals often, dust the floors more....i know...more work for you but it will hopefully help keep some of the lead under control.

don't blame yourself for picking the "wrong" house etc. there are so many things out there with lead in them that are in new homes....such as some miniblinds, many toys, etc..etc..

and about the toys... if dc does have high lead levels it may not be just the house you live in....lead is in the soil, in water, in food, in vitamins, in toys...there are so many possible sources for lead.

hang in there and i know you will get some great ideas from other MDC mamas to help you get through this.

one more thing...in old pipes lead is more prevelant in the hot water...so don't use hot water unless you have to...such as for washing your toothbrush,etc. and if you do use hot let it run a minute to clear out the water that has been settled in the pipe...and same for cold...if you are getting water for a drink of toothbrush let it run a minute to clear out the water that has been setting there. if you hate the thought of wasting that water you can collect it in a container to water plants or something.

[Ellien C]

Don't panic. Many of us live in older homes and things are just fine. I kind of think that if it's not one thing, it's another. Some newer homes have formaldehyde issues, problems with the carpet, paint, etc.

I live in an old home with lead paint and original windows. One of the positive things about older homes is that they are so leaky and drafty that the air quality can be better! Those homes that seal so well, can really seal it all in. I'm not particularly clean, we're not tremendous hand washers and I let my daughter play all over the place. We don't have any peeling paint and have painted over a lot of the house. The pipes are original. I'm not having the wood steps sanded and re-finished due to the lead dust exposure and I totally hate them. All that said, I had my daughter lead tested at 18-months and she was fine. I also wanted a baseline in case we did undertake a home improvement project so we could know what her exposure was.

That said, my friend in an old house (different state) had lead issues and the abatement is fairly straight forward. Paint over the old surfaces helps a lot. Her daughter had played a lot in the window sills - little doll house. My friend stopped her daughter from playing there, moved the toys out of the window sill and instituted wet dusting. And washed hands after playing in lead areas, like dirt or when opening or closing the windows. The lead problem did not get worse.

I know it's hard but you should wait for the test results to come back and do what you can in the mean time.

[Solose]

Originally Posted by reducereuserecycle

don't blame yourself for picking the "wrong" house etc. there are so many things out there with lead in them that are in new homes....such as some miniblinds, many toys, etc..etc..

and about the toys... if dc does have high lead levels it may not be just the house you live in....lead is in the soil, in water, in food, in vitamins, in toys...there are so many possible sources for lead.

At 13 months, a few weeks after we moved in, my ds tested at a 2. Since then we haven't really bought him many new toys and the lead inspector tested the areas on the outside of the house and they are okay, thank goodness. The only problem are those darn window wells. I cleaned very thoroughly in his room, and when I looked at the dust very closely I could see very small paint chips.

I am just so mad because I filled out a form at the doc's office about lead, and she never once mentioned to me that I could have a free lead inspection done or about lead dust. I could have kept teh windows closed and gotten it fixed right away, I always just thought that as long as you don't touch the paint chips everything would be okay. I am so mad that at doctors offices and wic offices they spend so much time harping on the dangers of very rare things like SIDS, yet this is never mentioned. I've done some research on this on the internet and toys are supposed supposed to be a fairly rare source of exposure, while old homes are the number one source. I feel like the government purposefully keeps this whole subject under the radar because otherwise more people would request lead inspections and more people would be outraged and make landlords fix this problem and that would just cost too much.

Sorry for rambling, I am just so upset, I am afraid damage has already been done to my sweet ds. He seems fine, but who knows. I am pregnant and next week I will get my lead test at the doctor's office and I should get my results right away, which will at least give me some idea of ds's exposure.