Winter’s cold days are the perfect time for making cozy family
memories indoors. Game nights, lazy days of building forts and block towers or
curling up on the couch with a book all sound good when it’s wet and icy
outside.
This season of increased indoor time is a great opportunity to
make sure your household habits and routines reduce your family’s risk of
exposure to lead. Lead is toxic to everyone—especially young children.
Lead-based paint was banned in 1978, but an estimated 38 million
permanently occupied housing units, or 40% of American homes, contain some lead
paint that was applied before the ban, according to the federal Department of
Housing and Urban Development’s National Survey of Lead and Allergens in
Housing.
Lead paint poses the greatest risk to children when it begins to
deteriorate, creating chips and dust that can be ingested by young children who
are more likely to crawl on the floor and put their hands and toys in their
mouths.
When winter brings more indoor days and less fresh air,
those risks may be higher. The good news is, lead poisoning is the most
preventable environmental disease among young children.
Here are some household habits that can reduce your family’s
lead exposure this winter:
Know the Biggest Hazards – The risk of exposure to
lead-based paint is greatest in areas of high friction. Doorways, windowsills
and any surfaces where paint is peeling and deteriorating are prime candidates
for creating lead dust. Regularly cleaning around these areas (using the
lead-safe practices described below) can help. Routine maintenance can help
keep dust at bay, but if you plan to upgrade or renovate your home, be sure to
either hire a lead-safe certified contractor, or follow the EPA’s lead-safe renovation
guidelines for DIYers, which can be found at epa.gov/lead/lead-safe-renovations-diyers
Check Your Vacuum – Without the right filtration,
vacuuming can actually spread fine-particulate lead dust around your home. Make
sure your vacuum is contributing to cleaner air in your house by selecting a
cleaner with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. Vacuums with HEPA
filters can be found anywhere vacuums are sold—you just need to make sure the
package features the HEPA acronym when describing the filtration system.
Keep Hands and Faces Clean – Children ages 6 and
younger are at the highest risk of lead poisoning in part because they are so
prone to crawling on the floor, picking up lead dust and then ingesting it by
putting their hands in their mouths. For this reason, Janine Kerr, Childhood Lead Poisoning
Prevention Program Health Educator with the Virginia Department of Health,
recommends washing children’s hands and faces regularly, especially before they
go to bed at night. “Making sure that they are washing their hands and face
before going to sleep reduces the risk of exposure overnight if they were to
suck their thumb or put their hands in their mouth,” she says.
Wash Items Often – Toys, pacifiers, bottles and any other toy or item likely to go in a
child’s mouth should be washed often with soap and water. These items can pick
up lead dust when left on the floor, so keep an eye on them.
Clean With the Wet Method – When wiping down surfaces in your home, Kerr
recommends a specific method to help prevent lead dust from being kicked up
into the air. Start by filling a spray bottle with soap and water. Spray down
the surface you are about to clean. Then, using a disposable rag or towel, wipe
the surface, moving in one direction to avoid dragging any lead dust back into
the area you just cleaned. Then, use a new rag or cloth dampened with water to
wipe away any additional dirt or grime. “It’s really important to not reuse
cloths or rags, because that can contaminate the area that you just cleaned,”
Kerr says.
Use Three Buckets For Mopping Floors – Avoid
cross-contaminating your floors by mopping with three buckets. Fill one with
soapy water, one with clean water, and leave the last one empty. When mopping, clean
your floor one section at a time. For each section, first dip your mop into the
soapy water, clean the section, rinse the mop in the clean water and then wring
it thoroughly into the empty bucket. Taking the extra time to rinse your mop in
clean water can make a huge difference, since you won’t be putting dirty water
back on your floors as you go from section to section.
Brave the Cold – Taking the time to bundle up and
enjoy a walk or visit to a playground exposes your children to fresh air, and
reduces their time around indoor lead hazards. Try to get some outside time in
every day if you can.
Think About What’s Coming In – In addition to paint
in homes, lead exposure can come from adults who may bring it into the house
after certain activities, such as spending time at a firing range, battery
manufacturing or recycling facility, mechanic shop or similar hobby or occupation.
When coming home from activities like these, adults should remove their shoes
before coming into the house to avoid tracking lead dust in. Once inside,
change clothes and take a shower before interacting with children to avoid
exposing them to any lead you may have picked up.
Enjoy Extra C – Nutrition can be a defense against
lead poisoning—especially foods rich in Vitamin C. Consider adding some
delicious winter citrus to your grocery cart and brightening those cold days
with a fruit salad or fresh-squeezed orange juice. As the weather gets colder,
your immune system will also appreciate the extra C.
At risk? Get tested.
For children who may be at risk for lead exposure,
blood lead testing is an important step in preventing harm from lead poisoning.
In addition to living in older homes,
other high-risk scenarios for lead exposure include children who are eligible
for or receiving Medicaid or WIC services, refugees or newcomers to the U.S.,
living with an adult who has a job or hobby that may expose them to lead,
living near an active industrial site, or have a sibling or housemate that was
recently exposed to lead.
Children who fall under any of these categories should be
tested at 12 and 24 months. In addition, any child up to age six who is at risk
for exposure but has not previously been tested, should be tested.
Pediatricians can help parents get a testing order to
take to a local lab. The cost is covered by Medicaid and most private insurers.
Keeping an eye on lead hazards is critically important for parents
of young children. While lead is not safe at any age, children ages 6 and under
are at the highest risk for harmful impacts that can have life-long
implications, because young bodies absorb lead at a faster rate.
For more information, please visit vdh.virginia.gov/leadsafe.
