Lead Sources You May Have Missed

You’ve repainted your house—or moved into a newer one sure to not have lead paint. You’ve bought the kits and tested every Disney, Nickelodeon, and Fisher-Price item in your house and tossed out every cute but lead-encrusted smiling Dora and Diego. (I really pouted when I had to ditch my Harry Potter bookends, myself.) You’ve given an impressive Linda Blair impersonation each and every time your baby attempted to lick the wall, giving adequate cause for the weird looks you get from family members and the terrified look your toddler gets anytime someone touches a wall.

Yes, you have done your lead duty, Amazon warrior mother (or father), protecting your child as best as you can. But did you know that there are plenty of lead dangers that we don’t really think about? You might have heard that lead is present in many lipsticks; it’s also in the following household items:

Old toys, furniture or playground equipment painted with lead. That old rocking chair that you love, that once was your great-grandmother’s, that you rock your baby in every night—yes, it’s a possible lead source. Even if you paint over it, if it’s not sealed in it could still seep through.

Food. If you buy imported foods, they could be sealed with lead.

Older brass faucets, plumbing and vinyl flooring. You just have to check and see if your make and model have lead—or use those handy-dandy (and expensive—sure, thirteen bucks isn’t that bad, but it’s only enough to cover a few things) lead testing kits. Even if you are satisfied that you have copper piping, you could still have lead in them if they’re soldered with it.

Mini-blinds. If yours are from a country outside the U.S. you might want to test them.

Dirt. Yes, there could be lead in your yard! My parents recently had theirs tested because it was found in their neighbor’s yard; thankfully, they didn’t have any. If you had dirt brought into your yard for landscaping and don’t know where it came from, you may want to have it checked.

Lead fishing weights. This one didn’t even occur to me! Thankfully, lead poisoning usually happens between the ages of 1 and 2, and I doubt many parents would let kids at this age pop fishing weights in their mouths. Still, you might want to lock them up. The same goes for brass keys,  lead crystal glassware, or pottery with lead glaze.

To prevent lead poisoning as best as you can (without losing your mind!), visit the Department of Health’s website.