Common-Sense Lead Safety

If your house was built before 1978, its old paint likely contains lead, which was banned for residential use that year. Lead itself isn't dangerous to touch, but the dust it creates when disturbed is a real hazard if you breathe it or swallow it. That dust comes from three sources: work that disturbs paint (sanding, scraping, prying trim), dust tracked around the house afterward on hands, shoes, and clothes, and everyday wear on high-friction spots like window sashes and door edges, which can shed tiny amounts of dust even without any renovation.

The approach to dealing with it depends on where the paint is. On surfaces that don't rub or move, like baseboards, crown molding, and siding, sealing the old paint under a fresh coat, ideally one made for that purpose and tested to a standard called ASTM E1795, is generally considered enough. But windows and doors, where surfaces slide against each other, wear through paint over time, so full removal down to bare wood is usually the better fix in those spots. Either way, the safest work involves capturing dust as it's made with a certified HEPA vacuum, sealing off the work area, and cleaning thoroughly afterward with vacuuming and wet wipes.

Homeowners planning to do this kind of work themselves can take EPA or OSHA lead-safety classes, and can also buy at-home paint test kits to check specific surfaces. Blood lead testing is available too, through most clinical labs, for anyone who wants to confirm their exposure levels after a renovation project.