Lead Alert

Sources of Lead in Your Home

Many houses and apartments built before 1978 have paint that contains lead (called lead-based paint). Look for peeling, chipping, chalking, or cracking lead-based paint; it is a hazard and needs immediate attention.

Lead dust can form when lead-based paint is dry scraped, dry sanded, or heated. Dust also forms when painted surfaces bump or rub together, such as window jambs, doors and door frames, stairs, railings and banisters, porches, and fences.

Other Sources of Lead

lead pipes and other piping using solder, lead-acid batteries used in automobiles, tobacco, liver water, some domestic and imported wines, canned fruit (the lead from lead-soldered cans leaches out and is absorbed by fruits), garden vegetables, bone meal, insecticides and hair dyes.

Leaded gasoline. Up until the mid-1970's the use of leaded gasoline was responsible for most of the lead in the environment. Although vehicle emissions of lead were markedly reduced to 3,900 tons in 1986, an estimated 4 to 5 million metric tons of lead has accumulated in the soil due to the use of leaded gasoline in previous years.

Those growing crops or garden produce near busy roads or highways should check the levels of lead present in the soil.

Prior to 1930, lead pipes supplied water to and within the home newer homes use copper plumbing; however, even if you have copper plumbing in your home, the chances are very good that it was assembled with solder, which is 50 percent lead. solder leaches a significant amount of lead into the water supply, especially during the first few years after installation. Due to mounting the amount of lead leaching into the water, the use of lead solder was banned in 1986.

Canned food sealed with lead solder also represent a danger. The lead from lead-soldered cans leaches into the contents of the can but acidic foods are especially susceptible. Canned fruit, fruit juices, and tomato sauce are primary targets for lead contamination. A newly opened can of juice will contain a lead concentration exceeding the maximum contaminant level, while an open can of juice remaining in the refrigerator for a few days will have dangerous levels due to oxidation. Despite these facts, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not banned the use of lead solder in food cans. Instead, the FDA urged the domestic food canning and packaging industries in the mid 1970's to remove lead solder from cans on a voluntary basis. Since then, the percentage of cans using lead solder has been reduced from 90 percent in 1979, to about 16 percent in 1987. Some manufacturers still continue to use old equipment and imported cans have no regulations.