is there any products on the market to test lead-based paint in the house?

Question

I want to test whether my old house paint and air contain lead or not

Answer 1

You can have a firm come in and test for lead-based paint (LBP) for $500 to $1000. They'll have an x-ray based machine that gives exact concentrations of lead in the paint and will check every painted surface in the house, about 8 to 12 per room.

Or you can buy a do-it-yourself kit called "Lead check" from a better paint store or from www.homaxproducts.com. About $15 for four tests. It turns pink if there is lead in the paint. You should check window and door trim, inside and out, kitchen cabinets and each different colored surface of the exterior, especially doors, window trim and eaves.

I've never found LBP on a interior wall if it wasn't also on the surfaces listed above.

90% likely to be true: House after 1978=no LBP. House before 1950=certainly in the trim. House before 1920=maybe on the exterior walls as well.

Between 1950 and 1978 there were decreasing amounts of lead in paint and tested would be needed to determine what went onto your house.

Does your house air contain lead? No. Not unless you are currently dry-sanding LBP or there is LBP on friction and impact surfaces like door jambs and double-hung windows. Or dust from the yard is kicked up by the wind and you live 1) in an urban area (decades of leaded-gasoline use), 2) in the fall-out of a smelter which operated anytime in the last century) or 3) in a few areas with naturally occuring lead sediments - ask you local health department about those posibilities.

The big risk of LBP is to children under 5, especially aged 1 to 2. And the biggest vector is dust on the floor.

Answer 2

Contact your local county health dept.. That is where both my kids were sent by their pediatrician for the test. They can also refer you on where the best sources of info. are.