Before my pseudo triplets were diagnosed with lead poisoning, I knew what all my friends knew about lead in old homes: Just don’t lick the paint or let your kids touch peeling paint chips, and you’ll probably be totally fine. How devastatingly wrong I was.
Even seemingly unchipped paint, when on high-friction areas (like doors and windows), can produce microscopic dust: enough to sicken or poison a small child.
A window A/C can blow in lead dust from a window built before 1978, or can blow in lead dust from construction outside: enough to sicken a child.
Many popular children’s toys and foods contain lead at high enough levels to sicken a child–yes, even in 2024.
Lead is such a prevalent problem that there was a recall this year on over 450,000 children’s toys sold at Costco for containing an illegal level of lead paint. And in 2023, over 500 children were lead poisoned (or had elevated lead levels) by a popular children’s apple cinnamon food pouch.
Lead is so highly toxic that if a child does get access to peeling paint, a tiny chip the size of a pinky fingernail can put them in a coma or even be fatal.
But even microscopic lead exposure is dangerous. There is no safe level of lead. And all it takes is a sugar packet’s worth of lead dust, sprinkled over an area the size of a football field, to poison a child.
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“Children can become poisoned in the blink of an eye,” Jane Nickert, director of nursing at the Washtenaw Health Department, said. “Unfortunately it takes longer for lead levels to start coming down once they’ve been poisoned; they don’t decline as quickly as they go up.”
Lead can be in children’s art supplies, bathtubs, jewelry, children’s toys, processed foods, used rugs and even permeate popular hobbies.
“Lead is an equal opportunity poison,” Nickert said. She notes that in Washtenaw County, “We are seeing kids poisoned in areas (with new housing) that we might not expect.”
If you want to protect your child from any lead exposure, here are 20 areas in which lead can show up in your everyday life.
Avoid lead in your FOOD. Lead can be in:
Certain foods, such as spinach and sunflower
Spinach and sunflower seeds are high in calcium and lead will bio-mimic calcium in biological structures. If there is any trace lead in the soil, it can more significantly affect these plants.’
Root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and cassava
These are more vulnerable to lead contamination because they are grown in the soil, so any lead-containing particles can attach to the skin and even leech through the skin onto the food itself. Any dirt on the skin is a potential lead contaminant.
Any processed foods
Processing equipment in factories is notorious for often having parts that are worn down, exposing lead paint or lead parts and contaminating the foods they are processing. This is why the same food (a potato, for example) is at much higher risk of being lead-contaminated when it’s processed vs cooked at home: since lead contamination can occur at the growing, processing, and packaging stages of food, this means homecooked food is only at risk at the “growing” stage, vs processed foods, which are at risk at all three stages.
Spices
These are notorious for carrying high levels of lead. In some countries, lead is flat-out added to spices like turmeric to beautify its color, so be wary of purchasing spices from other countries. Turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cloves, and curry are all high-risk spices.
Avoid lead in your home. Lead can be in:
Any painted surface, pre-1978
Lead paint wasn’t banned in the U. S. until 1978, so any surface painted before then has the risk of containing lead; and any home built before 1940 is considered guaranteed to have lead paint.
A lead inspection can show you if there’s any lead under layers of paint. Painting over walls with encapsulation paint is often considered sufficient to contain lead, but not for high-friction areas like doors or windows. If these contain lead, they can still leech through as microscopic dust.
“Who would think the simple act of opening and closing a window in an old home, even if the paint is intact, just that friction can create lead dust?” Nickert said. “There’s a misconception that a child has to pick a paint chip off the wall and put it in the mouth, but that’s not how most children are poisoned. Lead is heavy and tends to fall to the ground, and then children (especially younger children) explore the ground via hand to mouth skills.”
Bathtub glazes
Some bathtub glazes contain lead; and virtually all clawfoot tubs contain lead.
Your water
Many homes actually still have lead pipes bringing the water. Lead can also exist in homes without lead service lines, because brass or chrome-plated brass faucets can use lead solder. To be safer, test your water for lead; only use cold water for drinking and cooking (hot water contains more lead particles); let the water run for several minutes before you use it to flush out water that’s been sitting in the pipes (with more time to gather lead); and purchase a lead-certified water filter.
Your yard
Your soil can become contaminated by chipping paint; renovations (even ones done inside); or your neighbor’s home. Soil near a home is more risky than soil further out in your yard; and yards by busy roads can be more at-risk than yards in quieter areas. Home lead inspections will also test your soil, especially if it’s a child’s play area.
Nearby construction
Construction disturbs soil and can send lead-contaminated particles into the air. Yes, this is scary in Michigan, since so much of the summer is construction season! Nickert notes, “There’s a slight increase in lead levels in the summer months because children are playing outside more, or we open our windows more, or there’s more road construction–it can get into the air and get into our houses.” She said the Health Department is seeing more and more lead poisoning levels “coincide with construction.
Avoid lead in your Activities/ hobbies. Lead can be in:
Children’s art supplies
Yes, even art supplies labeled non-toxic. For example, sidewalk chalk marketed for children and sold at Target contained dangerous levels of lead.
Children’s toys or accessories
Dlesot toddler barrettes from Amazon were tested to contain 31,000ppm of lead in the red and white barrettes (any lead over 90ppm is illegal for items used by children) in 2024. The Stanley Jr. Kids Wheelbarrow and 7-piece Garden Sets, marketed for kids, contained an illegal level of lead and over 450,000 units were recalled after being sold at Costco in 2024.
Imported toys or other objects
Try not to buy toys from countries like China, for example — millions of toys from China contain high levels of lead. Avoid cheap websites like Temu and Wish, which source from low-regulation countries–be aware that items on Amazon can come from these places too.
Cooking supplies
Imported or antique/vintage cookware or tupperware can contain dangerous lead in the glaze.
Pottery
It can be especially prevalent in glazes.
Swimming
This family experienced lead poisoning due to their children swimming in a pool where the filter lines were weighed down with scuba weights.
Cosmetics
Many beauty supplies made outside the United States (and some made within it) contain lead. Absolutely avoid any cosmetics containing kohl, kajal, al-kahal, surma, tiro, tozali, or kwalli.
Keys
Jewelry
High levels of lead have been found in various jewelries, including cheap children’s jewelry.
Fishing or shooting
Fishing sinkers and ammunition are all high-risk activities. Lead contamination can get on your clothes, skin or car from these activities and can expose your child.
Occupations
Auto repair work, recycling batteries, working with antiques, or working in construction are all also high-risk activities that can bring dangerous levels of lead into the home.
This is the first article in our series on lead poisoning hazards for Michigan’s children: its prevalence, its impact, how to avoid being lead poisoned, and how to heal after exposure has happened.
