Article Presented By Rathkamp Financial…
We understand that parents may have lots of questions about lead poisoning. The Ohio Department of Health works with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to help renters locate lead safe housing in Ohio. The Ohio Housing Locator is a free, statewide service for rental housing. This website helps Ohioans search for units that are affordable, accessible, available to seniors, lead safe, and more.
Most children with lead poisoning do not show signs and symptoms right away. The only reliable way to know if your child has been exposed to lead is to get them tested. See the “Getting a Lead Test” tab for more information. For more information about why lead is harmful to health, see our About Lead page.
Take these steps to prevent your child from being exposed to lead in your home/environment:
- Wash your child’s hands and toys, as well as their bottles, pacifiers, and any other items your child often puts in his or her mouth.
- Regularly clean floors, windowsills, and dusty places with wet mops or wet cloths to pick up any dust. Use two buckets – one for soap and one for rinsing. Never use a home vacuum cleaner to clean up suspected lead hazards, even if it has a HEPA filter.
- You can rent a professional-grade HEPA Vacuum that can safely be used to clean up suspected lead hazards. Visit our HEPA Vacuum Loaner Program page for more information about this free rental program.
- Use only cold tap water for making baby formula, drinking, and cooking. Let the water run for a few minutes before you use it.
- Avoid certain products from other countries, such as health remedies, eye cosmetics (e.g. kohl, kajal, surma), candies, spices, snack foods, clay pots and dishes, painted toys, and children’s jewelry. These and other items may contain high levels of lead.
- Remove shoes before entering your home.
- Remove work clothes before entering the house, for any household member who does construction or other work that may involve lead. Wash these clothes separately from other items.
- Look out for peeling paint in houses built before 1978 (when lead was banned in house paint). If you rent your home, report it to your landlord so that repairs can get made (and call code enforcement or a legal aid society if there is no response). If you own your home, repair it safely. To find out more about repairing peeling paint safely, see our Housing Resources page.
- Be careful during renovations. Keep your child away from renovation or maintenance work that disturbs paint, and make sure no paint chips or dust remain in the work area before your child enters. If you hire someone to conduct renovation, repairs, or painting in a home built before 1978, make sure that they are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency to perform lead work.
- Get professional help with screening your home for hazards and making repairs. A lead risk assessment will tell you if you have hard-to-find hazards such as lead dust, lead in bare soil, or lead in your water to prioritize any repairs you can have done. A lead-based paint inspection will tell you where the lead-based paint is in your home so you know the places (such as windows, doors, trim, porches, and other locations) to maintain and avoid disturbing. An abatement contractor knows how to eliminate hazards identified by either type of evaluation. See our Lead Licensure Program page for more information on finding a local professional.
