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Handout: Lead: Dust, Paint Chips,
and Water from Old Sinks or Old Pipes
Lead Dust and Paint Chips
If you live in an old house, there may
be lead in the paint. If your house has old lead paint on
the walls or stairs or ceiling and the paint is broken and
peeling, you may have lead dust in your house or paint chips
with lead in them on the floor.
In Massachusetts, for instance, since
1978 it has been against the law to put lead in paint, so
new paint has no lead. If your house is new (built in or
after 1978) or if all the old paint was taken off, then
it is safe for children to play in your house.
If your house was built before 1978, check
to see where there is lead in your house. Lead paint was
expensive, so it is usually in the living room or other
rooms that visitors see, or on the outside of the house.
Ask a hospital or government office who you can call for
a lead test. If your landlords say there is no lead in your
house, ask them to show you the paper from the state.
If a house has lead paint at a height
lower than six feet, the landlord cannot rent to a family
with small children. It is against the law to have children
under six years old in the house. But it is against the
law to say “no” if a family wants to rent! Also,
if a house has lead and a child living in the house gets
lead poisoning, the landlord must pay to take the lead out
of the house. Deleading the house is very expensive and
difficult and can be dangerous.
So sometimes children live in a house
with lead. What can you do? You can put new paint everywhere
and make sure there is no broken paint or paint dust anywhere.
If the windows have lead paint, even under
new paint, opening and closing the windows can create dust
with lead in it. The lead dust falls on the floors, carpets,
and windowsills.
You should clean the windowsills and floors
once or twice a week with detergent. Throw away the cloth
that you use to clean. Do not use a vacuum because the dust
will blow back out of the vacuum into your house again.
Open windows from the top so children cannot touch the paint
dust behind the windowsill.
Children can eat lead dust on toys, pacifiers,
dishes, or their hands after they play near lead dust. They
also can eat paint chips or put their mouths on windowsills.
Lead paint is a little bit sweet, so babies think it is
good to eat!
To stop lead poisoning before it gives
your children problems, you must wash everything your children
put in their mouths. Wash their toys every week and wash
their hands before they eat. Small children should have
a lead test every six months or every year.
Depending on what part of the country
you live in, if your house is old, the pipes between the
street and the house will most likely be lead. Also, if
your sink is old, there is lead solder in the pipes of the
sink or in the faucet. New copper pipes or plastic pipes
are fine.
Water that has been sitting in lead pipes
all night has more lead, and that lead will go into your
body when you drink the water. Lead in your brain is poisonous.
It is especially dangerous for children under six because
their brains are still developing (growing).
What can you do? After you use the toilet
or shower, the water in the pipes doesn’t have as much
lead. But, for every sink, you should run the water for
a minute until the water is cold before you drink it or
cook with it. You can use the “dirty” water for
plants or for washing dishes but not for eating or drinking.
Comprehension Questions
1. If your house is older than ________________
years, you may have lead paint in your house.
2. If a house has lead paint at a height
lower than six feet, can a landlord rent to a family with
small children? Why or why not?
3. Sometimes children live in a house
with lead. What are some things you can do to keep them
from getting sick from it?
A._________________________________________________________________
B._________________________________________________________________
C._________________________________________________________________
D._________________________________________________________________
Answers for #3: repaint the walls, clean
window sills and floors regularly, wash their toys, let
the water run for a few minutes before drinking it.
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