Lead testing kits are commercially available for detecting the presence of lead in the household. Testing kit accuracy depends on the user testing all layers of paint and the quality of the kit; the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only approves kits with an accuracy rating of at least 95%. Professional lead testing companies caution that DIY test kits can create health risks for users that do not understand their limitations and liability issues for employers with regard to worker protection. As hot water is more likely than cold water to contain higher amounts of lead, use only cold water from the tap for drinking, cooking, and making baby formula. Since most of the lead in household water usually comes from plumbing in the house and not from the local water supply, using cold water can avoid lead exposure. Measures such as dust control and household education do not appear to be effective in changing childrens blood levels.Prevention measures also exist on national and municipal levels. Recommendations by health professionals for lowering childhood exposures include banning the use of lead where it is not essential and strengthening regulations that limit the amount of lead in soil, water, air, household dust, and products. Regulations exist to limit the amount of lead in paint; for example, a 1978 law in the US restricted the lead in paint for residences, furniture, and toys to 0.06% or less.
Descriptions of lead poisoning date to at least 2000 BC, while efforts to limit leads use date back to at least the 16th century. Concerns for low levels of exposure began in the 1970s with there being no safe threshold for lead exposure. Classification
Classically, "lead poisoning" or "lead intoxication" has been defined as exposure to high levels of lead typically associated with severe health effects. Poisoning is a pattern of symptoms that occur with toxic effects from mid to high levels of exposure; toxicity is a wider spectrum of effects, including subclinical ones (those that do not cause symptoms). However, professionals often use "lead poisoning" and "lead toxicity" interchangeably, and official sources do not always restrict the use of "lead poisoning" to refer only to symptomatic effects of lead.The amount of lead in the blood and tissues, as well as the time course of exposure, determine toxicity. Lead poisoning may be acute (from intense exposure of short duration) or chronic (from repeat low-level exposure over a prolonged period), but the latter is much more common. Diagnosis and treatment of lead exposure are based on blood lead level (the amount of lead in the blood), measured in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (μg/dL). Urine lead levels may be used as well, though less commonly. In cases of chronic exposure, lead often sequesters in the highest concentrations first in the bones, then in the kidneys.