Grays Harbor Lead Awareness Information

We have combined local, state and national resources to make it easier for you to become informed and take action to protect you and your family from lead contamination. | Read this guide in Spanish

What is Lead?

Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. While it has some beneficial uses, it can be toxic to humans and animals, causing health effects.

What are the Health Effects of Lead?

Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Children six years old and younger are most susceptible to the effects of lead.

Pregnant Women

Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from the mother's bones along with calcium and can pass from the mother exposing the fetus or the breastfeeding infant to lead. This can result in serious effects to the developing fetus and infant, including:

• Cause the baby to be born too early or too small;

• Hurt the baby’s brain, kidney’s, and nervous system;

• Increase the likelihood of learning or behavioral problems; and

• Put the mother at risk for miscarriage.

Find out more about lead's effects on pregnancy and lactating women:

• Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 

• Guidelines for the Identification and Management of Lead Exposure in Pregnant and lactating Women, National Center for Environmental Health. 

Other Adults

Lead is also harmful to other adults. Adults exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension;

• Decreased kidney function; and

• Reproductive problems (in both men and women).

Read more on the health effects of lead

• EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Lead

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

What do I do if I think my child or I have been exposed to lead?

Talk to your pediatrician, general physician or you can contact us about what you can do. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to check you or your child for lead exposure.

Inspecting your home for lead

Part 1: Lead-based paint

Lead-based paint is still present in millions of homes, normally under layers of newer paint. If the paint is in good shape, the lead-based paint is usually not a problem. Deteriorating lead-based paint (peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking, damaged, or damp) is a hazard and needs immediate attention.

Lead-based paint may also be a hazard when found on surfaces that children can chew or that get a lot of wear-and-tear, such as:

• Windows and window sills;

• Doors and door frames; and

• Stairs, railings, banisters, and porches.

A few tips to reduce sources of lead exposure in older homes and buildings:

• You can purchase a lead test kit at home improvement stores to test for lead-based paint. The swab-based tests are not as accurate as the chemical test kits that are recognized by the EPA. What lead test kits are recognized by EPA? | US EPA

• Inspect and keep all painted surfaces in excellent shape and clean up dust frequently with a wet cloth or paper towel. How to Make Your Home Lead-Safe | US EPA

• Consult a certified lead professional before beginning renovation, repair or painting projects. Renovation, repair or painting activities can create toxic lead dust when painted surfaces are disturbed or demolished.  Learn more about hiring lead-safe certified contractors.

• The EPA also provides a guide and shopping list for homeowners to provide renovation and repairs to their home when lead-based paint is involved. Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program | US EPA

Part 2: Imported toys, cosmetics, candy, spices and antique toys

Lead has been used for a long time in a wide variety of products found in and around our homes, including painted toys, furniture and toy jewelry; cosmetics; food or liquid containers; and plumbing materials.

That favorite dump truck or rocking chair handed down in the family, antique doll furniture or toy jewelry could contain lead or lead-based paint. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has a comprehensive program on lead in toys including toy jewelry. Biting or swallowing toys or toy jewelry that contain lead can cause a child to suffer from lead poisoning. To help protect against that risk, CPSC has put protections in place that ban the use of lead in many children’s products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a maximum level of lead in cosmetic products. Learn about limits on lead in lipstick and other cosmetics.

Part 3: Ceramic pottery and metal cookware

Food and liquids stored or served in lead crystal or lead-glazed pottery or porcelain can become contaminated because lead can leach from these containers into the food or liquid. Visit the FDA for more information on lead in food and containers. 

Unlike testing for lead-based paint, there is no easy way to test for lead in household products. The most reliable method for determining lead content involves sending the item to a lab for “digestive testing” — which is a method that traditionally necessitates complete destruction of the item that is tested — to determine the lead content. That test generally costs in the $70 to $300 range per item, depending on the scope of the test. Considering the inconvenience and expense of the existing testing options, it is much more cost-effective to limit your selection to known lead-free options when choosing coffee mugs, dishware and metal cookware such as pressure cookers.

We found interesting information about lead safety in household cookware and dishes by blogger Tamara Rubin. Lead Safe Mama - Environmental Activist, Filmmaker, & Mother of Four Sons (tamararubin.com)

Part 4: Workplace and hobby hazards

Working with lead and/or lead-based paint (e.g., renovation and painting, mining, smelting, battery recycling, refinishing old furniture, autobody, shooting ranges); or having a hobby that uses lead (e.g., hunting, fishing, stained glass, stock cars, making pottery) could cause you to bring lead home on your hands or clothes, or contaminate your home directly. Lead can be found in hunting ammunition, fishing tackle, came and solder used in stained glass, weights used in stock cars, dyes and glazes used in pottery and many other places.

If you have a job or hobby where you may come into contact with lead:

• Never put leaded materials (for example, fishing sinkers, lead came or solder for stained glass or leaded pottery clay or glaze) in your mouth.

• Use proper ventilation and equipment when melting lead to cast your own bullets, sinker, decoys or other metal items.

• Avoid handling food or touching your mouth or face while engaged in working with lead materials, and wash hands before eating or drinking following such activities.

• Shower and change clothes before entering your vehicle or coming home.

• Launder your work and hobby clothes separately from the rest of your family's clothes.

• Keep all work and hobby materials away from living areas.

If someone in your family is a renovator or contractor working in older housing, then find out more about lead-safe work practices.

If you are an owner or operator of outdoor rifle, pistol, trap, skeet or sporting clay ranges, then find out more about lead management at ranges.

Part 5: Drinking water

Lead can enter drinking water through corrosion of plumbing materials, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder.

In 2011, changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act reduced the maximum allowable lead content to be a weighted average of 0.25 percent calculated across the wetted surface of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings and fixtures and 0.2 percent for solder and flux. The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with lead solder.

Corrosion is a dissolving or wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction between water and your plumbing. A number of factors are involved in the extent to which lead enters the water including the chemistry of the water (acidity and alkalinity), the amount of lead it comes into contact with, how long the water stays in the plumbing materials and the presence of protective scales or coatings inside the plumbing materials. To address corrosion of lead and copper into drinking water, EPA issued the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act. One requirement of the LCR is corrosion control treatment to prevent lead and copper from contaminating drinking water. Corrosion control treatment means utilities must make drinking water less corrosive to the materials it comes into contact with on its way to consumers' taps.

For Grays Harbor residents, lead test samples are sent to Water Management Labs in Tacoma. You can pick up a sample container at the Purified Water to Go store in Aberdeen and drop it off with a check written out to Water Management Labs. The cost is $30 to test for lead in your drinking water. When taking a lead test sample of your drinking water, it’s important to let your pipes rest for 5-8 hours before collecting the sample. The night before you collect the sample, don’t flush if you wake to use the bathroom at night. You want to collect the water that has rested in your drinking water pipes for 5-8 hours for the most accurate results. After dropping off your collection sample, it takes 20-25 business days to process the results.

• We have summarized a list of NSF-certified water filtration products available at local retailers.

Reducing Lead Exposure in Drinking Water

If you have not used your water for several hours, run the tap until the water is noticeably colder. This helps flush out any lead that may accumulate in stagnant water.

Use only cold water for drinking, cooking, and making baby formula. Hot water may contain higher levels of lead.

Clean the screens and aerators in faucets frequently to remove captured lead particles.

Use only certified “lead free” piping and materials for plumbing when building or remodeling.

• Lead in Drinking Water | Washington State Department of Health

• Get more basic information about lead in drinking water.

• Get information on your local drinking water system's water quality for lead through your drinking water quality report (called a Consumer Confidence Report).

• Certified Product Listings for Lead Reduction | NSF International

• Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey gives a tutorial on why lead can be found in home drinking water and the best methods to combat it. How to Safely Treat Water with Lead - This Old House

• Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative Resources for Concerned Citizens - LSLR Collaborative (lslr-collaborative.org)

Part 6: Herbal remedies

Some folk remedies that contain lead, such as "greta" and “azarcon,”are used to treat an upset stomach. Some folk remedies for morning sickness, including "nzu", "poto" and "calabash chalk," contain dangerous levels of lead and other chemicals. Consuming even small amounts of lead can be harmful. Lead poisoning from folk remedies can cause serious and irreversible illness. Visit the CDC for more information on lead in folk remedies.