Half of American kids have lead in their blood, doctors say
My wife and I are particularly concerned about lead, especially since there is no way to really cure lead poisoning.  Any house built before the 1980s could have lead in it, with varying degrees of concern for children.  Around the home here is what we found are sources of lead to worry about (or not):<p>- Paint: lead was banned in paint in 1979, but lead was used less and less even before the cutoff date.  Paint is especially a problem when it is chipping or wearing off, like on windows or doors.<p>- Plumbing.  Very old homes may have lead pipes which should be removed.  Lead solder was used with copper pipes until ~1984, but this is somewhat less of a concern, depending on your water source (cities can change the water to leach less lead from pipes).<p>- Plumbing fixtures: this is actually a pretty major source of lead in water, and luckily it is easy to change old faucets.  You can run water for a minute to mitigate risk with old faucets.<p>- Flooring: Lead can be in any ceramic tiles, but generally not too much.  It is only a problem if you are removing tiles and are creating lots of dust.<p><a href="https://www.epa.gov/lead" rel="nofollow">https://www.epa.gov/lead</a>