Lead Safety At Home
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
We’ve all heard about the recalls of toys with lead paint. It almost makes you want to throw out the toybox and start over. In fact, most of the lead your child will be exposed to may not come from toys. If you live in, take baby to daycare in, or spend time in an older home, your baby is likely to be exposed to lead. Most older homes have lead in their paint, or plumbing.
So if you live in an older home, what can you do to decrease your child’s exposure to lead?
Lead paint on windowsills is a hazard, since it’s often at mouth level, and babies and toddlers often chew on the windowsill when looking out of the window.
It’s important to wash hands before eating, but it’s especially so for children living in older homes. Lead paint gradually turns into dust which settles about the home. Children spend a lot of time playing on the floor so it’s important to wash off any dust that might be on their hands. Lead was also used in the joints of old plumbing pipes. Lead gradually leeches from the water pipes into water standing in the pipes. Run water for a minute to get clean water from municipal pipes before drinking, or cooking, or making up formula with it.
If you see old paint chipping, cracking, flaking or turning dusty, call in an expert to have it dealt with safely.
Here’s some more tips on how to reduce exposure to lead if your child spends time in an older home.
Comment on this blog...