Does anyone know where you can get a paint test kit for lead?

Question

I have a friend who is living in a house that was built in the 70's and is feeling sick when she is in the house but feels fine outside the house. Could this be a sign of lead possioning? Where can she go to get the paint tested? What kind of laws protect her she is attenent in a house? Please need a professional to answer.

Really do not need a professional to answer need help.

Answer 1

Lead-based Paint (LBP) was outlawed for residential use after 1978. From 1950 to 1978, lead levels decreased a lot (the toxic effects were already known). It would be an unusual house that had LBP applied in the 1970's. (Whereas many houses built before WWII had and still have screamingly high levels of lead in the paint).

You can test for LBP with a swab/tube you rub on the paint after you cut through all the paint layers with a razor knife. There's little point in testing flat walls and ceilings. The highest lead-content paint in a house is always in trim (door, window), especially exterior or in a bath or kitchen. The test kits are available for about $20 from a better paint store for 2 swabs (test up to 8 locations) or on-line at http://www.leadcheck.com/LeadCheckSwab.shtml for $18 for 8 swabs (test up to 32 locations).

Chronic (or acute) lead poisoning is slow to change. It wouldn't change when she goes inside and outside. It would take days for the flu-like symptoms (low-energy, disgestive upset, malaise, and at high doses mental confusion, speech difficulties and paranoia) to change.

There were court cases that the federal government can't use sick children as the indicator of LBP in public housing. So federally-funded housing is the most commonly testing housing stock. I'm not aware of a federal requirement to test privately-owned rental housing, although individual states might have legislated that.

Given the sudden changes in her symptoms, I'd look to mold or other allergens and pyschological/lighting/SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) issues long before lead-based paint.