Hey all- I recently came across Lead Mama and that sent me down a fresh anxiety driven rabbit hole re: lead exposure. We live in a rented 1940s house and I had brief concerns about lead but grew up in an older home and didn’t worry too much about it. Baby was tested at 1 and lead levels were below 1. He is now 18 months and I’m stressed as I’ve noticed some tiny paint chips falling off our door ways and a couple chips in paint here and there. We also had a bathroom fan installed recently and no special precautions were taken- the contracter said they weren’t needed and I took him at his word. Now freaking out, especially since resources like the CDC have led me to feel like living in any older house is extremely dangerous (but what about Europe??). I feel like I should be deep cleaning every day and am not. I emailed our ped a couple days ago and she hasn’t responded yet. Can anyone weigh in or empathize?
Lead anxiety
- Thread starter learning1
- Start date
@learning1 Since you asked about Europe, they banned lead paint much sooner than the US did. In general around 1900 whereas the US banned it in 1978 so it’s much less of an issue there.
@tfran There was money to be made and lobbyists. You can read up on this, very well documented. Then consider that we're still mining it and that it is not supposed to be in our environment. It is naturally occurring, yes, but in the Earth's crust, exclusively. It is not compatible with biological life and we are continuing to increase its concentration in our environment. Thanks Stanley cups for your contribution btw...
peacefulmind
New member
@learning1 Regarding the fan, consider that all they did was cut a hole. The dust was 99.9% drywall and 0.1% of the miniscule layer of paint that may (or may not) have lead. That is functionally zero exposure. Usually the problem is when someone goes to repaint and they sand the lead paint off, so all the dust is potentially hazardous. Gypsum isn't great, but it's also not lead and easily cleaned.
peacefulmind
New member
Correction : old house so the wall is probably plaster instead of drywall, but still gypsum either way.
@peacefulmind Thank you! This helps with my anxiety around that at least!
@learning1 Lead exposure thankfully is only mainly a concern for ingestion. If you supervise your baby enough that they're not picking up and eating lead-based paint chips, they're probably fine. Touching/being around lead paint in and of itself is not an issue, according to my home inspector and the local foster care training that I took.
Lead Free Mama gets brought up here a lot as profiting off of people's anxieties and lack of knowledge. She doesn't do a great job of explaining actual risk, and does a great deal of framing things in a hyperbolic way. If you're concerned you can certainly get more lead tests done on your baby! Hope this helps.
Lead Free Mama gets brought up here a lot as profiting off of people's anxieties and lack of knowledge. She doesn't do a great job of explaining actual risk, and does a great deal of framing things in a hyperbolic way. If you're concerned you can certainly get more lead tests done on your baby! Hope this helps.
frosty_bread
New member
@charity1 Agreed - Lead Safe Mama causes so much anxiety, not all of which is productive. One thing I want to add is that aerosolized lead can become a concern for well-meaning parents who get rid of their old lead paint through renovations. So people will have their old paint sanded down and inadvertently end up releasing a whole lot of lead into the air that they would have been better off leaving untouched!
herfatherseyes
New member
@frosty_bread Isn’t that how lead safe mamas kids ended up with lead poisoning? I think it was a home project.
frosty_bread
New member
@herfatherseyes Not sure, I just know from our own home renovations and consultations with a lead abatement specialist.
@frosty_bread my children inhaled lead in fumes and dust - my son was 7 months old - not even crawling
frosty_bread
New member
@frosty_bread My son has a diagnosed permanent brain injury (from his Lead exposure) with a visual memory in the 4th percentile as a result. It's a complicated life. I will never not be a parent of disabled children. This is why I have 100% dedicated my life to helping others protect their children from being exposed to Lead.
@herfatherseyes my children inhaled lead and were acutely poisoned. This is discussed in detail in my documentary film, which is available online for free.
grace_given17
New member
@stacey7 I was just thinking to myself, hmm wonder how long it takes for her to show up in here.
I appreciate her work in spreading the word that we need to be mindful of lead in products, but it’s never been very clear to me what her qualifications are. I tried backtracking the lead claims on the McDonalds Garfield mugs from the 80s and couldn’t find anything except for “this lady on the internet says they’re bad”. Granted they may be bad and it was easier to toss them than to truck out and buy lead testers, but she has a lot of hype online without a lot of background from what I’ve seen. Happy to be proven wrong, but I think it’s fair to question the source (for any guru, not just her). Additionally she really stirs up a lot of anxiety versus confidence so I tend to dig a little deeper and question things when I see that dynamic going on.
I appreciate her work in spreading the word that we need to be mindful of lead in products, but it’s never been very clear to me what her qualifications are. I tried backtracking the lead claims on the McDonalds Garfield mugs from the 80s and couldn’t find anything except for “this lady on the internet says they’re bad”. Granted they may be bad and it was easier to toss them than to truck out and buy lead testers, but she has a lot of hype online without a lot of background from what I’ve seen. Happy to be proven wrong, but I think it’s fair to question the source (for any guru, not just her). Additionally she really stirs up a lot of anxiety versus confidence so I tend to dig a little deeper and question things when I see that dynamic going on.