Who is at Risk for Lead Exposure?

Who is at Risk?

Children

Lead is particularly dangerous to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Babies and young children can also be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths. Children may also be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead, inhaling lead dust from lead-based paint or lead-contaminated soil or from playing with toys with lead paint.

Adults, Including Pregnant Women

Adults may be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead. They may also breath lead dust by spending time in areas where lead-based paint is deteriorating, and during renovation or repair work that disturbs painted surfaces in older homes and buildings. Working in a job or engaging in hobbies where lead is used, such as making stained glass, can increase exposure as can certain folk remedies containing lead. A pregnant woman’s exposure to lead from these sources is of particular concern because it can result in exposure to her developing baby.

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Lead Exposure Data

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statisticsmonitors blood lead levels in the United States. Get information on the number of children with elevated blood lead levels, and number and percentage of children tested for lead in your area.

According to CDC (PDF) (2 pp, 291 K, About PDF)

• The most important step parents, doctors, and others can take is to prevent lead exposure before it occurs.
• Until recently, children were identified as having a blood lead level of concern if the test result is 10 or more micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood. Experts now use a new level based on the U.S. population of children ages 1-5 years who are in the top 2.5% of children when tested for lead in their blood (when compared to children who are exposed to more lead than most children). Currently that is 5 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood. The new, lower value means that more children likely will be identified as having lead exposure allowing parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities to take action earlier to reduce the child’s future exposure to lead.

EPA uses the CDC data to show trends on blood lead levels in children in America’s Children and the Environment.

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What are the Health Effects of Lead?

Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Children six years old and younger are most susceptible to the effects of lead.

Children

Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in:

• Behavior and learning problems
• Lower IQ and Hyperactivity
• Slowed growth
• Hearing Problems
• Anemia

In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death.

Pregnant Women

Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from bones as maternal calcium and is used to help form the bones of the fetus. This is particularly true if a woman does not have enough dietary calcium. Lead can also cross the placental barrier exposing the fetus the lead.  This can result in serious effects to the mother and her developing fetus, including:

• Reduced growth of the fetus
• Premature birth

Find out more about lead's effects on pregnancy:

• March of Dimes Healthy Pregnancy Exit
• Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Lead can also be transmitted through breast milk. Read more on lead exposure in pregnancy and lactating women (PDF) (302 pp, 4.2 MB, About PDF).

Other Adults

Lead is also harmful to other adults. Adults exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension
• Decreased kidney function
• Reproductive problems (in both men and women)

Read more on the health effects of lead

• EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Lead
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

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Lower Your Chances of Exposure to Lead

Simple steps like keeping your home clean and well-maintained will go a long way in preventing lead exposure. You can lower the chances of exposure to lead in your home, both now and in the future, by taking these steps:

• Inspect and maintain all painted surfaces to prevent paint deterioration
• Address water damage quickly and completely
• Keep your home clean and dust-free
• Clean around painted areas where friction can generate dust, such as doors, windows, and drawers. Wipe these areas with a wet sponge or rag to remove paint chips or dust
• Use only cold water to prepare food and drinks
• Flush water outlets used for drinking or food preparation
• Clean debris out of outlet screens or faucet aerators on a regular basis
• Wash children's hands, bottles, pacifiers and toys often
• Teach children to wipe and remove their shoes and wash hands after playing outdoors
• Ensure that your family members eat well-balanced meals. Children with healthy diets absorb less lead. See Lead and a Healthy Diet, What You Can Do to Protect Your Child (PDF)
• If you are having home renovation, repairs, or painting done, make sure your contractor is Lead-Safe Certified, and make sure they follow lead safe work practices (PDF)

Determine if your family is at risk for lead poisoning with the Lead Poisoning Home Checklist (PDF).

Lead Safe Home Checklist

Lead Poisoning Home Checklist
The following questions will help you determine if your family is at risk for lead poisoning.

1. Was your home built before 1978?
A majority of homes built before 1978 (especially homes built throughout the 1940s to 1960s), contain lead-based paint, which can have a dangerous effect on the health of young children (under the age of
six) and pregnant women.

2. Do you see walls, furniture, or window sills in your home with

chipping or peeling paint?

Lead-based paint is unsafe if it peels, chips, or cracks. Harmful lead dust is created when windows, doors, edges of stairs, rails, or other lead-based painted surfaces wear away over time. You or your landlord can get your home checked for lead by hiring a trained, certified professional. Many young children put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths, which can cause serious damage to their health. Wash children’s hands, bottles, pacifiers, and toys often.

3. Do your children play in lead-contaminated soil near your home?
   Soil around homes with lead-based paint may have lead chips, dust, or flakes in it. Children can acciden- tally swallow this soil while playing outdoors, or the soil may be tracked indoors from shoes onto carpet and floors where children can eventually come into contact with it. Teach children to wipe and remove their shoes, as well as to wash their hands, after playing outdoors.
   
4. Do you store food in imported pottery that contains lead?
   Imported pottery and dishware usually contain lead. To protect your family from lead poisoning, use imported pottery only for decoration, and keep food and drinks in other safe, storage containers.
   
5. Do you work with lead in your job?
   You may be exposed to lead on the job if you work as a painter, ironworker, construction worker, cable splicer, automobile radiator repair mechanic, firearms instructor, metal shop worker, stained glass artist, or battery maker. If you work in a lead-related industry, change your work clothes before entering the home, wash your work clothes separately from the clothes you wear around your family, and remove your shoes before entering your home, as lead can be tracked indoors onto carpets, floors, and furniture.
   

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, have your home tested by a certified professional by contacting 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) or visiting www.epa.gov/lead. If you rent, find out if your landlord has checked your home for lead. Have your children tested for lead poisoning by asking your doctor or your health specialist at a Head Start center to do a simple blood test. Medicaid should pay for the cost of the lead poisoning test. 

Lead a National Problem, Not Just a Flint Issue

In Flint, Mich., testing has found lead levels of more than 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood in 4 percent of that city’s children. The result is national outrage. 

In neighborhoods of New Orleans and Boston, New York and Baltimore, across the country in urban pockets much the same size as Flint, those same levels are regularly found in up to 25 percent of children. 

“That hasn’t been getting the same kind of attention,” says Howard Mielke, a professor in the department of pharmacology of Tulane University whose research includes mapping lead blood levels across urban populations. “Maybe what’s happening in Flint will shine a spotlight on the fact that lead risk is everywhere.” 

Mielke and other experts agree that the outrage over Flint is well warranted. The fact that the problem was created by one government entity and then ignored by several others makes it particularly heinous, they say. But they would also like to see some of the same call to action for other neighborhoods where Flint-like levels of exposure are the norm. 

“I think it’s perfectly appropriate to rally around Flint,” says Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician and dean for global health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. “But people need to realize that Flint is not an isolated example and there are places that are even worse. It’s happening all over the country and it’s tightly tied to race, ethnicity and economic circumstances.” 

Then he starts ticking off locations: “Central Harlem. Bushwick. Roxbury in Boston. Baltimore is probably the worst. New Orleans, another city that has lead paint and poorly maintained housing.” 

Unlike Flint, where the source of the lead is drinking water, the cause in most other places is paint and soil. Until 1978 all paint contained lead, and until 1996, when lead was finally banned in gasoline, car fumes mixed with soil, remaining toxic for decades. Young children explore the world by putting it in their mouths, and both paint chips from the floor and dirt from outside play carry the lead into their bodies. The younger the brain, the more vulnerable it is to toxins, and the damage is irreversible — causing such problems as learning disabilities, attention deficits, reduction in IQ and anger-management issues. 

Perhaps the most dramatic illustration of the invisible damage caused by lead is what happens when the element is eliminated. In several studies around the country, Landrigan says, researchers graphed the drop in lead blood levels in a community after lead was banned in gasoline there, and then graphed the murder rate in those same communities 20 years later (when the children in the original graph reached adulthood). “The slope of the decrease was exactly the same,” he says. 

Other studies, he says, have shown that the lead levels in the blood of incarcerated youth are higher than those of non-incarcerated youth from the same neighborhoods. 

The demonstrable dangers of lead exposure mean that children living in high-lead pockets of cities today are “condemned by where they live,” Mielke says. His research, he explains, has personal roots, beginning in 1983 when he had recently moved to St. Paul, Minn., and his then 3-year-old daughter had a routine blood test before eye surgery. Her blood levels were high (doctors say there is no safe level; any lead is too much). Mielke was already an expert, having worked on a map of lead exposure while an assistant professor at the University of Baltimore. He was alarmed that even with his awareness he had not been able to protect his child. 

To find the source of her exposure, “I followed her through her day, taking samples from play areas,” he says. That’s how he learned “her childcare center playground was basically a hazardous waste site. It was an ordinary residential backyard, but it was close to the thruway, and the fumes contaminated the soil.” He worked for years to have lead banned from gasoline. 

That the incidence of lead poisoning in American children dropped from 5 in 11 down to 1 in 11 since the gasoline ban took effect illustrates that prevention does work, he and other experts say. It also illustrates the imbalance between those who can afford to eliminate lead from their lives — using certified renovation contractors, conducting clearance tests of their environments, etc. — and those who cannot. 

Landrigan notes that even while offering resources to the city of Flint, the Centers for Disease Control is cutting funding for New York City programs that teach low-income families to recognize and avoid the hazards of lead. 

“The answer is more screening, more education, more remediating of lead paint, and instead they are doing less,” he says. (Calls to the New York City Department of Health were not returned.) The resources “belatedly” being showered on Flint, he says, are “what’s needed elsewhere in the country as well.” 

What Your Home Inspector Does Not To Tell You

Nearly two in five existing homes suffer from some type of major defect. According to the Realty Times, these types of defects can cost as much as $15,000 to repair.

Protect yourself from unexpected repair costs by investing in a home inspection before you buy. Not only can a qualified ASHI home inspector save you money in the long run, but many lending and insurance institutions require an inspection as part of the home buying process.

HOME INSPECTOR - BUYER BEWARE

Here are some things your home inspector may not tell you.

1. Lack of Insurance:
Even the best home inspectors can make mistakes, and the things they miss can wind up causing you major problems. Surprisingly, California does not require home inspectors to carry insurance, and even those with insurance requirements in place may not do enough to protect the client.

Typically, a home inspector's liability tops out at the cost of the inspection. That means that if your inspector misses a major issue, you could be out thousands. To make sure you'll be protected by a home inspection oversight, choose an inspector who carries "Errors and Omissions" coverage. These policies go beyond the basic liability insurance.

2. Illegal to offer repairs:
In fact, California Law and the  American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) forbids soliciting repair work based on the results of an inspection performed.

To protect your pocket book, keep inspection and repair work separate, and beware of inspectors who offer their services for other tasks.

3. Inspection of the House only.
As his or her title suggests, your home inspector is looking at the condition of your house, not the grounds or surrounding features. This means he's unlikely to spot problems beyond those on the interior or exterior of the house itself, leaving you vulnerable to issues with outbuildings or fences. Unfortunately, these elements often represent a fairly major expense.

 If you're buying a home that includes a large number of outbuildings or other outdoor features, be sure to negotiate these items into the inspection checklist. If your inspector isn't willing to cooperate, or feels ill-equipped to handle these types of structures, consider hiring an inspector who's more experienced in this type of work.

4. What is Thorough?
In most U.S. States, there are very few standards in place to determine which items should be covered during a home inspection, in California both CREIA and ASHI standards are referenced.  Rather than leave the scope of your home inspection up to the inspector, take the time to hammer out an agreement ahead of time so both parties know exactly what's covered. If you need ideas, look for free checklists provided by the American Society of Home Inspectors at ASHI.org.

5. Finding an inspector through your real estate agent?
Real estate agents often provide recommendations to help clients choose a home inspector. However, with many home inspectors relying on real estate agents for referrals, it may not be in your best interest to blindly follow your agent's advice. These home inspectors know that pointing out flaws in a home can result in a price reduction, or may even kill the deal. To stay on the good side of a real estate agent, some unscrupulous home inspectors might be tempted to ignore or minimize potential problems, which can cost you big money.

Protect yourself by choosing a home inspector who's completely independent from your real estate agent. This way, you're guaranteed that these two professionals will have your best interests at heart, instead of each others'. To find a qualified inspector visit ashi.org.

Of course, if you trust your real estate agent, feel free to give his or her recommendations a shot. Just make sure to vet each potential inspector as an ASHI certified inspector, on your own before agreeing to a deal.

6. What is hidden?
The biggest and most expensive home repair issues are often those hidden away behind your walls or floor coverings. Rotted wood or old wiring can cost big bucks to replace, yet even the best home inspectors probably won't notice these problems.

This is because most home inspections are non-invasive, which means they don't extend beyond the finished surface. An inspector may peel up the edge of a carpet to check the subfloor below, but he won't be able to do the same for ceramic tile, or for items hidden in walls or ceilings. To make his job even harder, unethical homeowners or investors may use paint or other materials to cover up water damage just long enough to get through the inspection and selling process. While there's little you can do to protect yourself from these risks, a trusted home inspector can help you gather as much information as possible as you decide on your purchase.

7. Are we qualified?
California has no certification or training program in place for housing inspectors. This means that a so-called home inspector may have just about as much experience as you do at evaluating the condition of a house.
Steer clear of these inexperienced inspectors and look for professionals certified by a trusted organization within the home inspection industry. The American Society of Home Inspectors requires applicants to inspect at least 250 houses in order to earn membership.

To weed out the inexperienced candidates, ask each inspector about his or her previous experience with residential home inspections and verify that they are certified by ASHI.

8. Not a code inspection.
A code inspection can only be legally done by a local city building inspector; not a home inspector.
Be sure to visit your local city building website or office to review all code paperwork for your property.  A home that's not up to code leaves you vulnerable to both safety and financial risks. It means that your family won't benefit from all the latest safety standards and technologies. It also leaves you footing the bill for code compliance on renovation or repair work. For example, if you decide to add a home addition in the future, you'll likely be required to bring the house up to code first. For big issues like wiring and plumbing, these costs could easily run into the thousands.

9. Safety issues.
The majority of home inspectors do a great job sniffing out problems with a home's basic structure or systems. In some cases, however, more serious issues can easily slip through the cracks. Asbestos, lead, mold, radon and other dangers are typically not covered by home inspections  In many states, inspectors require special licensing and training to deal with these types of problems. Even in states where no special certifications are required, the average home inspector is simply not equipped to detect mold, radon, asbestos or lead. Others may purposely exclude these high-risk elements because of the extreme liability associated with them.

If you're concerned about mold, lead paint, radon or asbestos tile, find a home inspector who is willing and able to handle these elements.

10. Cheaper is better.
See items 1 through 9.

About Steve Zivolich and Guaranteed Property Inspections: www.gpinspect.com

Steve Zivolich, M.A., the owner/operator of Guaranteed Property Inspection and Mold Investigation Inc. has been providing property and environmental inspections for over 13 years in Orange County and Southern California.

Steve Z. has performed over 6,000 home inspections, mold, energy and environmental inspections and is fully certified and insured to meet all your inspection needs. He personally provides all field inspection services and as a result is able to maintain the highest Better Business Bureau rating of A+.

Steve has extensive training and years of experience as a home, mold, energy and environmental inspector that will guarantee that you receive the most thorough, state of the art and comprehensive inspection that follows current industry standards of practice and codes of ethics, a true value and education at a fair price. He conducts every inspection, as if he were moving his own family into the property. Steve also backs up every home inspection with a 90 day warranty, that is purchased on your behalf from American Home Warranty Association.

Unlike other home inspection companies, who will need to refer you to an environmental and/or energy audit contractor, Steve is a nationally certified expert that can handle the job without making you jump through hoops to hire additional people before the end of your inspection period, including the areas of: mold, asbestos, allergens, child safety, radon, formaldehyde, energy, EMF, water quality, and VOC's. As a result of his advanced training, he is able to offer a FREE energy audit and FREE mold investigation as well, with each home inspection.
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Please take the time to read through Steve's home inspector credentials and qualifications as this is so important when hiring an inspector. Don't focus on price alone, focus on value, quality, experience and professionalism. When you hire an inspector, any inspector, you are hiring their individual knowledge, experience and qualifications so make sure you hire the best, not just the cheapest. We are confident that you will be Steve's next satisfied customer.