Lead paint fears

[jesswilkie]

Not sure where to post this but since I'm terrified for my children's health it could be here!
We bought a house nearly 2 years ago and have been doing it up... My husbands project for the past six months has been carefully (not so carefully it turns out) heating the paint on the staircase and scraping it off with a chisel... So it turns out its lead paint.. We have a 7 and 3 year old who trail their hands down it every morning and night.
The cupboard under the stairs which houses all their coats and shoes is painted in (flaking in places) lead paint as is the shed door which is our laundry!
I told the doc about the fact my sons have been helping hubby scrape off the paint and he looked at me like I was bonkers for wanting them
To have a blood test!
Right now I'm convinced the house is completely contaminated that we have traipsed lead dust around the house and they are being slowly poisoned.
I can feel myself getting absorbed and consumed by it and am wracked with guilt. Help!

[anyexit]

I am sure everything will be ok :)

When I was a infant they used to use lead paint on my cot as all paints then had some lead in them. I used to chew and bite my cot all the time and I am sure I have injected (that should read ingested not injected) some of the paint as the top rails where back to bare wood :P

I has done me no harm :wacko::madness::p

[smiles]

Hi, just asked hubby about this (fellow of the royal institute of chartered serveyors) and your children (and yourselves) are in no danger.
Just keep the dust at bay as best as possible, and wear a face mask when sanding. Try not to worry, it's not as dangerous as it is hyped up to be. Just take sensible care.... Oh and wipe other rooms over with a damp cloth to get rid of dust x x x

[jesswilkie]

Thank you both so much for your replies.. I have managed to stop panicking enough for me not to get my children blood tests which may be taking it too far. I think I'm right in saying that if you are exposed to it all the time then that's when it causes problems, my husband also pointed out that most people in their 60s and 70s now had lead paint on their actual
Walls growing up and they are all alive!!! It's hard not to worry though 😁Xx

[hanshan]

I think heating and scraping is not a problem, or even flaking paint if it is collected up. Using a sander that creates paint dust is probably more dangerous. Just having it on the wall is not the same as exposure (and when I grew up, all the paint had lead in it).

Leaded petrol was far more dangerous, but even then most of us who grew up in that era still have our brain cells functioning okay.

[jesswilkie]

My husband did actually sand the shed door and think that's got lead on it, that was about a year ago.. Still trying hard to stay sane over this, maybe I Should just get them tested and then I can move on!!!

[Kuatir]

Are your children actually ill?

You don't mention it, so assuming they aren't ill you don't need them to go to the doctor.

They are fine and the sanding took place a year ago so nothing to worry about there. Just make sure your husband cleans up... you don't mention that you are worried about him?

[hanshan]

If it was the shed door your husband sanded, it probably all blew over onto the neighbours!

Seriously, when I grew up, everything had lead in it (I think even toothpaste tubes), but we all survived and even thrived intellectually.

My parents' house in Australia was 1920s vintage, so all the paint was lead-based, and it was frequently sanded down. It's totally anecdotal, but it hasn't affected me.

Also, every 1920s house had a 1950s addition out the back built with asbestos cement cladding. Also, our house garage was unpainted asbestos cement. Nobody worried about asbestos in those days - you could buy asbestos simmer pads to put on the stove to stop your milk boiling over. Of course, people in contact with asbestos-related industries did get mesothelioma, and very rightly asbestos is strictly controlled today.