All sellers with homes built prior to 1978 are required to fill out a lead-based paint disclosure form and provide you, the buyer, with a lead-based paint educational booklet in any sale. Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around our homes.

Most Common Sources of Lead Poisoning:

  • Deteriorating lead-based paint
  • Lead contaminated dust
  • Lead contaminated residential soil

 Lead may cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children 6 years old and under are most at risk, because their bodies are growing quickly. There is a informational web site, called lead-free kids, that describes the problems.

On the other hand, there are millions of homes with lead paint out there, and many have been painted and repainted several times so the lead paint is well covered up. 

Older homes, schools and day care facilities

  • If your home was built before 1978, there is a good chance it has lead-based paint.
  • Paint chips and dust from deteriorating paint can contain dangerous levels of lead.
  • Dust containing lead can be created by friction activities, such as when windows, doors, or drawers are opened and closed, or by walking on stair treads.
  • Lead dust can also be tracked into the home from soil outside.
  • Lead can be found:
    • In the city, country, or suburbs.
    • In apartments, single-family homes, and both private and public housing.
    • On the inside and outside of buildings and in the soil outside.

If in doubt, have the paint tested and evaluated either at a local laboratory, or with one of the home test kits available at your local hardware store.

My only experiance with lead base paint usage that had not been repainted was on a house on Ridge Street,south of Central, in Arlington Heights. After having the house tested, they found that the gutter downspouts were the culpret. This family had had the experiance of lead poisoning in the family, so it was a health conern for them.