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Originally Posted by Clodfobble
Will they let you sell the house? Where I am, it's illegal to sell a house that fails certain major inspection standards. I would think lead content would be one of them. Is there any chance homeowner's insurance will pay for some of it?
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Clod,
Yeah, up here (upstate ny) most houses are pretty old. You do have to 'fess up first though. Our realtor told us not to bother having a lead test done. She guaranteed that there was lead in the house.
Homeowners insurance mocks us derisively. (a pre-existing condition? ha ha)
but there are grants from the state that will kick in significantly to abatement.
BrianR, My wife's brother is a doctor and he gave us some advice about not freaking out too much. He doesn't recommend the chelation program. It hasn't been proven to be effective and since Bedwe'er's levels are low enough to avoid it, we will for now. I don't trust people sticking needles into other people. I know people who got Hep C from routine friendly haha procedures so, the less perforating the better.
jane_says,
Yeah, I've heard about monitoring people who work with lead. It seems like all you have to do is think about it and your levels rise. Someone told me they discovered their kids had elevated lead levels after the family cat mysteriously died... of lead poisoning.
So what about the folks who work uranium mines?
Brianr,
Checked the link about chelation therapy. That model with the lab coat and clipboard (Dr.?) seems cute and friendly enough that I don't feel threatened at all. My pulse isn't racing, but something about crackers in bed never mind.
I am always suspicious of anything that is being sold to chakras 2 and up where the advertising is aimed at #1. Granted she wasn't wearing a bikini, that would be over the top, but she seemed a little too chipper. Whoa, I'm digressing.
What is really more interesting to me is that EDTA is often used as a wetting agent in photography. It is weird how many chemicals I see that are in my darkroom. Maybe I could start a "shadetree chelation clinic" Clinic sounds too unfriendly. Maybe SPA is the word I'm looking for.
I dunno, as a reformed macrobiotic (kill the pig, drink its blood!) I am so leery of these "magic bullet" cures.
Another friend (holistic md) thinks the whole lead thing is a red herring. I mean, we're all alive and mostly well.
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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
Working with lead is tricky because of the dust particles and fumes if it's heated. But in your home it's solid, in the paint and maybe some pipes.
Lead, like asbestos, isn't a problem if you leave it alone. At 9 months, is he chewing on window sills? Is the paint flaking or dusting off? Do you have any lead pipes in the supply pipeing?
You should have your levels checked also, because this doesn't make sense, unless you're remodeling and putting the lead in the air.
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Leave it alone. That is my new motto. "Just say: 'Leave It Alone'."
Nah, he's not gnawing yet, but he spent the last few months tasting everything he could grab. We figured "heck we live in the country, it's clean dirt." Well maybe cleaner than the city, but really just different dirt.
No lead pipes. But the paint (what is left) on the outside of the house is probably original c. 1850 and I hear that back then paint was up to 50% lead.
I spent two years renovating the house before we moved in (it was a horrorshow) there was a lot of airborn lead, heatgunned, zipstipped, sanded, scraped, crunched underfoot, lunch eaten amidst the debris, etc. it was cleaned, painted, aired out, vacant for a year before we actually moved in.
I had my lead levels checked and they were "normal" I don't remember the numbers. It seems the dust is persistant and the drill is wash with a phosphate based detergent, using disposable wipes. vacuum 3-5 times with a HEPA filter. From the sound of it, it's like honey; first it's running down the side of the bear and before you know it it's on your elbow and you've gotten it all over your car door.
Thanks for your input(s). I'll keep you posted as things progress. Today we spent the day cleaning.
One thing that is weird about lead is that the body can't distinguish it from calcium or iron. So the treatment most recommended is to add a lot of calcium and iron to the baby's diet. That way when the body goes hunting for calcium or iron, there is proportionally less lead in the mix.