Lead Testing

Let our Healthy Home lead testing experts help you!

Lead can be found in a variety home construction materials and even your drinking water. Healthy Home serves Oregon and SW Washington area homeowners, landlords, renters and potential home buyers by providing peace of mind through quick and effective lead testing. Our lead testing technicians are here to answer any questions and our services are licensed in the State of Oregon and Washington.

We offer three services for our customers. Please look and see what service is right for you, contact us through the online form and we’ll be in touch with you immediately to get your service scheduled. Results are reported in about a week. If you’re not sure what service is best for you, simply contact us and we’ll make sure you get the lead testing service you need.

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What is Lead?

“Lead is a metal that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust.”

Tell Me About Lead Exposure

Lead and Human Activity

Mining, burning fossil fuels and manufacturing are all human activities that caused lead to be more widespread in our everyday lives and homes. Lead was also once a key ingredient in paint and gasoline until the mid-1970’s. It is still used in batteries, solder (pipe fittings), pipes, pottery, roofing materials and some cosmetics.

Unfortunately, lead has been used in manufacturing children’s toys and in paints on children’s toys. Although this is regulated in the U.S., other countries often still use materials that contain lead.

Lead in Paint

The use of lead-based paints in homes, children’s toys, and household furniture has been banned in the United States since 1978. But lead-based paint is still on walls and woodwork in many older homes and apartments. When paint chips off walls or window frames, the paint chips can be ingested and cause lead poisoning.

Water Pipes and Drinking Water

Elevated lead levels in drinking water is a primary source of exposure for children and adults alike. Lead pipes, brass plumbing fixtures and copper pipes soldered with lead can release lead particles into tap water, especially when water has not been flowing for an extended amount of time. Lead also enters drinking water through faucets made with brass components. It is important to know that brass components are widely used in faucet construction, especially faucets manufactured outside of the United States.

Lead in drinking water has been in the news nationally as well as locally in Oregon and Washington. In fact, the levels of lead in drinking water in Portland are close to the federal allowable safe amount limit.

If you live in a home or work in a building that was built between 1970 and 1985, there is a good chance you have excessive amounts of lead in your drinking water. This also applies to schools and parks built during the same years.

Investigative reporters for The Oregonian state that “meeting the home-based lead problem will take creativity and ingenuity.”

Healthy Home is an expert in the field of lead testing and brings the creativity and ingenuity necessary to fix all lead contamination in your home.

Soil

Lead particles from gasoline or paint settle into soil and linger for years. Lead-contaminated soil is a major problem around highways and in some urban settings. Lead can also be found in the soil near older homes and parks.

Household Dust

Dust circulating in your home can come from old paint chipping from the walls or window frames, contaminated soil brought in from the outside, or when construction is taking place. When paint is sanded off walls or ceilings, the dust particles that are created can be very harmful. They may enter your HVAC system and circulate in your house for months. This causes contamination to the air quality of your home.

Where is lead used today?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the primary use of lead in the U.S. is for automobile lead-acid storage batteries, a type of rechargeable electric battery that uses an almost pure lead alloy. Lead-formed alloys are typically found in ammunition, pipes, cable covering, building material, solder (pipe fittings), radiation shielding, collapsible tubes, and fishing weights. Lead is also used in ceramic glazes and as a stabilizer in plastics.

The primary use of lead in the U.S. is for automobile lead-acid storage batteries

Who is exposed to lead?

All people are exposed to a certain amount of lead. The Mayo Clinic states that children under the age of 6 are the MOST susceptible to side effects of lead exposure. Children get lead in their bodies when they put lead objects in their mouths, especially if they swallow those objects. They can also get lead on their fingers from touching a dusty or peeling lead object and then put their fingers in their mouths or eat food afterward. This happens with toys and even playground and park equipment painted with lead-based paint. Children also can breathe in tiny amounts of lead.

The Mayo Clinic lists the following risk factors that may increase lead exposure:

Age. Infants and young children are more likely than older children to be exposed to lead. They are also more likely to put objects in their mouths. They may chew paint chips and contaminate their hands with lead dust. Young children also absorb lead more easily and sustain more harm from it than do adults and older children.
Living in an older home. Although the use of lead-based paints has been banned since the 1970s, older homes and buildings often retain remnants of this paint. People renovating an older home are at even higher risk.
Certain hobbies. Making stained glass requires the use of lead solder. Refinishing old furniture may put you in contact with layers of lead paint.
Country of origin. People who live in developing countries are at higher risk for lead poisoning because those countries often have less strict rules about lead exposure. American families who adopt a child from another country may want to have the child’s blood tested for lead poisoning.

It is also important to know that lead can harm an unborn child. Pregnant women or women likely to become pregnant should be particularly careful to avoid exposure to lead.

Children get lead in their bodies when they put lead objects in their mouths, especially if they swallow those objects. They can also ingest lead by touching a dusty or peeling lead object and then putting their fingers in their mouths or eating food afterward.

This happens with toys and even playground and park equipment that has been painted with lead-based paint.

Children also can breathe in tiny amounts of lead.

Sources of Lead Exposure

Tell me about Lead Poisoning…

Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body, often over a period of months or years. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems. At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal.

Lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust in older homes are the most common sources of lead poisoning. Other sources include contaminated air, water and soil. Adults who work with batteries, perform home renovations or work in auto repair shops may also be exposed to lead.

Lead poisoning can often be difficult to detect, and the only way to know for certain is to have testing done. If test results indicate that you or your children suffer lead poisoning, having your home tested for lead is imperative.

Signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children may include:

Developmental delay
Learning difficulties
Irritability
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Sluggishness and fatigue
Abdominal pain
Vomiting
Constipation
Hearing loss

Signs and symptoms in adults may include:

High blood pressure
Abdominal pain
Constipation
Joint pains
Muscle pain
Declines in mental functioning
Pain, numbness or tingling of the extremities
Headache
Memory loss
Mood disorders
Reduced sperm count, abnormal sperm
Miscarriage or premature birth in pregnant women

Babies who are exposed to lead beforebirth may experience:

Learning difficulties
Slowed growth

Sluggishness and fatigue

Learning difficulties

Headache

Healthy Home Lead Testing Services

We offer the following residential lead testing services:

Water Testing:

Water is tested in your home by collecting a series of water samples throughout the house. We focus on the city-supplied water to your home. The samples are collected first thing in the morning after the water has sat in the pipes overnight.

Indoor Air Quality Testing:

Healthy Home professionals collect air quality samples to be tested for lead and lead dust particulates.

Soil Testing:

Potentially contaminated soil samples are collected from around your home and tested for the presence of lead.

We test efficiently and are cost-effective. Plus, you get results quickly!

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