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Lead Testing / Lead Paint |
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As for over-the-counter lead test kits, they’ve been found to be unrealiable. Our testing services use Lab Results!
Consumer Reports tested five home lead-testing kits and concluded that three of them were "useful though limited screening tools for consumers concerned about lead levels in the products in their homes," but the tests can often produce false positives and well as false negatives  Lead Paint
Beyond that, contact Pacific Northwest inspections Group, LLC to have a Certfied Lead inspections performed with a porfessional lab report. Even when levels are relatively low, the acummulation of toxins can have a negative effect on children's health and development.
Toxicologists and child health experts insist there is no reason any toxin should be allowed in anything made for a child. Checking Your Family and Home for Lead *Get your children and home tested if you think your home has high levels of lead.* *Just knowing that a home has lead-based paint may not tell you if there is a hazard.* To reduce your child’s exposure to lead, get your child checked, have your home tested (especially if your home has paint in poor condition and was built before 1978), and fix any hazards you may have.
- Your Family
- Children’s blood lead levels tend to increase rapidly from 6 to 12 months of age, and tend to peak at 18 to 24 months of age.
- Consult your doctor for advice on testing your children. A simple blood test can detect high levels of lead. Blood tests are important for:
- Children at ages 1 and 2.
- Children and other family members who have been exposed to high levels of lead.
- Children who should be tested under your state or local health screening plan.
- Your doctor can explain what the test results mean and if more testing will be needed.
- Your Home
- You can get your home checked in one of two ways, or both:
- A paint inspection tells you the lead content of every different type of painted surface in your home. It won't tell you whether the paint is a hazard or how you should deal with it.
- A risk assessment tells you if there are any sources of serious lead exposure (such as peeling paint and lead dust). It also tells you what actions to take to address these hazards.
- Have qualified professionals do the work. There are standards in place for certifying lead-based paint professionals to ensure the work is done safely, reliably, and effectively. Contact the National Lead Information Center (NLIC) for a list of contacts in your area.
- Trained professionals use a range of methods when checking your home, including:
- Visual inspection of paint condition and location.
- A portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine.
- Lab tests of paint samples.
- Surface dust tests.
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