Lead is a heavy metal that is common in our everyday environment. Historically it has been used in paints, pipes (including connectors/fittings), and gasoline among other places. Today, most industrial uses are limited to lead-acid batteries, a growing market.

Lead is known toxin. There are no safe levels of lead for humans; any amount is a bad amount.

Health effects range from mild health irritations and decreased fertility at low amounts, lower IQ and emotional/behavioral issues in milder amounts, and seizures, coma, and even death at higher amounts.

Top exposure pathways (aka: sources of lead) include:

• Paint
• Soil
• Dust, created by soil or paint
• Water / Plumbing

Lead may be in toys, cosmetics, food containers, and other places, but the above are the top 4 pathways. Paint is generally recognized as the primary source of lead. People talk quite a bit about lead in water, in part because of the crisis in Flint Michigan. Soil is a pathway that gets less attention; however, there is growing evidence that soil -- and in particular the dust that gets kicked up -- is a significant source of lead.

How to test for lead in your home or community

• Test it yourself: Buy a product off the shelf
  • pros: This is probably the quickest path to testing.
  • cons: The results may not be reliable.
• Test it yourself: DIY / Hacker methods
  • pros: Good for citizen scientists and teachers.
  • cons: Actually these don’t exist yet :( Help us create them!
• Get a professional to do it
  • pros: Gets the most reliable results.
  • cons: can be slow/annoying if you’re working with your local gov’t or expensive if you’re paying a private company)
• Partner with a local college / university
  • pros: Can be low-cost, allow for bulk testing, and help build important relationships
  • cons: Takes time to build relationships
• Use a mail-in service
  • pros: Uses reliable testing methods done by professionals
  • cons: May not be as fast as testing yourself, costs money

Science / Regulations + Addressing the Issue

• List of Methods for Lead Detection & Monitoring
• Regulatory overview: What gov’t agencies are involved with this issue? (TBD)
• The Lead Data Initiative - A Public Lab effort..

Research Notes on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic

Questions posted on PublicLab.org Related to this Topic