DiY Lead exposure - blood test for child?

[Blue3Trees]

Has anyone successfully managed to get themselves and their child tested for lead levels in the blood (on the NHS or privately ) following accidental exposure to lead paint dust via DIY activities? What was the outcome?

I'm worried sick that I may have exposed my baby (aged 1) through dust in the house and via my breastmilk because I accidentally sanded some old lead containing paint without using appropriate protection (no mask, just cleaned up the dust with our normal vacuum). I tested the top layer of paint which was negative, but sanding exposed some other coloured layers underneath in places and these tested positive for lead - using one of those colour changing swab test kits.
I can't see a GP until after New year now, so can't get medical advice, NHS direct would be useless with this kind of question without any acute symptoms. I can't seem to find a lot of UK information about lead exposure but it seems to be taken really seriously in the US, so I'm worried that a UK GP will just fob me off.
I can't sleep I'm so worried.
I guess I'm mainly looking for advice from others with similar experience and if there's anything I can do now to minimise the damage to my child.

This suggests vitamin c could be beneficial.
I’d get rid of the vacuum though.
Medichecks do a lead levels blood test if the GP is reluctant to organise testing.

http://hpri.fullerton.edu/Community/documents/Fact_sheet-Nutrients_that_reduce_lead_poisoning_June_2010.pdf
Vitamin C has been consistently linked to lower blood lead levels and reduced organ damage. It may inhibit lead uptake at a cellular level, thereby reducing lead's toxicity to some organs. It prolongs the useful functioning of vitamin E.

The main route of ingestion is probably going to be hand to mouth activity for you and your baby so ensure you wash your hands and don't let the baby crawl around where you stripped the paint. Heat stripping is worst as it can produce particles too fine to be picked up by the filters in a vacuum so you might be best washing everything down.

Calcium has been shown to have a protective effect on the absorption of lead in the gut and in keeping skeletal lead burdens out of the blood stream in pregnant and breastfeeding mothers - it can be released due to high calcium demand so you could take some calcium supplements. Also people in hard water (high calcium) areas tend to have lower skeletal lead burdens than those in soft water areas. Won't do any harm?

Thank you both for the advice.
Anyone gone down the route of blood testing for this?

The chances of getting a blood test for a 1yo I’d say are fairly remote. Even with the private companies such as medicheck the nurse is not going to take blood from a 1yo. Gp surgeries don’t take blood from 1yos. You’d need a paediatrician to take the sample. And I really don’t think the gp will refer you to the paeds for this.

what would the the treatment be if the results were high? Is there treatment? If not why test? I think we probably are more relaxed about lead in the U.K. I still have lead water pipes in my house!

Didn't we all chew the lead paint off our cots in the 80s?

I'm not sure what you think the risks are from a one off exposure? I used to constantly chew lead pencils at school also.

Well all reputable sources I've read so far state that there is no safe level of lead exposure in children. Would the GP not take a finger prick blood sample from a one year old? I guess I want to get the test for peace of mind because I have convinced myself that I've permanently damaged my child... Admittedly most of the worrying information is US based but why would they have such a different stance on it than the UK, there must be some science behind it?! Apparently there are treatment options for very high lead levels too.

There is no lead in pencils - its graphite!

The medicheck website says a venous sample is needed not a finger prick. The nhs is unlikely to give a test for peace of mind.

You could maybe get your levels checked privately? Because if your levels are ok it’s very unlikely that your daughters wouldn’t be.

That's a good point, thanks, although apparently children absorb more lead than adults but if my levels are low enough then maybe that would put my mind at ease a bit.

Lead is not hugely toxic as a single small dose apart from some organic lead compounds so I doubt a single possible exposure event of a lead carbonate/oxide in paint will cause health problems for your baby. But I am not a doctor - I just study lead exposure in populations from an environmental/historical viewpoint.

Yes, baby's guts are less well developed so not as good as adults at excreting ingested lead but most of the lead in a human body is in the skeleton where it is actually quite inert unless calcium demand is high such as in pregnancy/lactation - hence research has shown it's a good idea to take calcium supplements then. Its half life in blood is about 30 days from memory but it accumulates in the skeleton if you are consistently exposed to it, e.g. chewing on painted toys or cots, lead water pipes, breathing in fumes from tetraethyl (organic) leaded petrol. But lots of us did the latter as children and haven't suffered noticeably.

The good thing is your baby's blood and bone turnover will be very rapid at this age as they are growing fast - more than 100% a year for bone - so any that is deposited should be cleared relatively quickly.

Just remove all the dust and small particles by washing floors and surfaces - if you have just sanded it rather than heat stripping that should deal with it.

There is as you said lots of focus on this in the US particularly with leaded petrol and leaded paint in old housing stock and how childhood exposure can impact future behaviour. Other good modern studies were done by Brian Gulson and colleagues primarily on pregnant women and the families living in the mining villages at the massive Broken Hill lead mine in Australia.

Great post Mytholmroyd!

My DD had a lead blood test when she was 1 as it was mandatory for daycare in enrolment in our zip code. She was fine even though 6 months later the water fountain in our local park, which we had let her drink from on occasion, was shut down due to excessive lead levels, and another one nearby was deemed to be safe but only if left continually running like a fountain! The blood test was awful though, it’s not easy to do them on babies, you’d think they’d be experienced because it was a mandatory thing there but it still took 3 staff to get a vein.

I recently got a lead blood test, £120 privately.

I’m so curious to know where you got to with this? Just had a very similar experience although my children are a bit older. Managed to get blood tests but results are taking AGES to come through. Seems like a lot more awareness and access to testing in the US, as you say. The anxiety is unbearable! Hope your baby is doing ok and that the one off event has not currently brought to light any detrimental consequences. x

@Blue3Trees @LettieShroo
Hi,
just wondering where you got with this please? I’ve made the same mistake and now I’m losing my mind that I’ve poisoned my child (1YO) thank you

@Blue3Trees @LettieShroo @Olsrose Hi all, I would be so grateful for a reply please, I'm unbearably worried about my two young daughters (10 months, and nearly 3) as we've just had a very similar experience to the one you described OP (unwittingly releasing lead dust into our daughter's bedroom when her grandad sanded down and repainted a windowframe which we have subsequently discovered was painted with old lead paint; confirmed with a test kit). What happened next for you all? Have you been able to move on from the anxiety? Right now I'm so worried I'm trying to stop myself from moving us all into a hotel until the house has been cleaned top to bottom! Thank you x

Hiya @Flora1985, awful isn’t it. I was worrying for weeks and had an enormous amount of guilt. I tried to push this to the back of my mind, washed everything in the house and even bought an air purifier with a HEPA filter, but the reality is I couldn’t, especially as we are wanting to try for baby 2. So I’m actually awaiting the results of a blood test that Is specifically testing for lead. I was hoping I’d have these today for you as the results are due this week.
Its near impossible to get such young children blood tested, so my thought process was given my child wasn’t in the house at the time (or only for a short time) and all the doors and windows were open, If I test positive then I can push for my child’s lead levels testing. Although the doctor did think I was crazy and said the likelihood id be positive is very very small. My justification is if I test okay then chances are she will be given my proximity vs hers.
I’d try not to worry, open your windows, wipe everything down, wash bedding etc
I’ll let you know the results when I have them as hopefully put your mind and future posters minds at rest.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply @Olsrose, really appreciate it. It's so hard isn't it, I feel such huge guilt 😓. I just can't get over how stupid DH and I were not to test the paint before we let my Dad do the work in our toddler's bedroom, but my parents keep saying that millions of people live in old houses that would've had lead paint at some point and most probably aren't aware of it and would do the same thing without even considering there might be lead around, so maybe I'm beating myself up too hard...I don't know. I feel dreadful though - can't sleep, can't focus on anything else, I just keep worrying that I've ruined my girls' futures / potential by exposing them to something that could impact their brain development 😥. Since we discovered the lead we have wet wiped down her room completely, hoovered with a new hoover with HEPA filter, and bought a HEPA air purifier, but I worry it's all too little too late as my Dad did the work a month ago and we only discovered the presence of lead yesterday 😥.

Well done you for getting a blood test, and I hope you get the results soon. I'm wondering whether to push for one too...but I thought I had read somewhere that the lead can only be detected in your blood for something like 30 days after exposure, after which it deposits in the skeleton and can't be detected in the blood...but I am probably wrong on that. @Mytholmroyd do you know about this - your posts above seem very knowledgeable on the subject? Also, do you know whether the flakes of old lead paint that come off flaky, chipped windowsills are as harmful as the dust from sanding down old lead paint? Now that we know we have old lead paint on our windowsills we're obviously leaving them well alone, but I am still so worried about the chips and flakes that are coming off just by living in the house (opening and closing windows, for example). I feel compelled to keep all the windows closed even when it's hot just so we don't disturb the flakes! (I'm trying to get painter/decorators on board to encapsulate the lead paint with new paint, but it seems it will take at least a month to get them started on the job, and we have a lot of windows with this problem).

Good luck with your results @Olsrose, I'm keeping everything crossed for you that nothing shows up. I'd be really grateful if you could let me know though, especially as I will probably try to do the same thing! Thank you 🙏

@Flora1985 There have been lots is studies done at Broken Hill in Australia - primarily by Brian Gulson and colleagues on lead exposure in the people living there. It is a massive lead mine and they found that the exposure of children was from old lead paint imported from Britain rather than Australian lead (you can tell the leads apart easily from their isotopic profile). Renovating the houses was the probable cause and heat stripping the paint was believed to create lead containing particles small enough to go through vacuum filters that would collect flakes. So they were still in the house and getting picked up by small children and ingested through hand to mouth activity. They could also of course eat flakes so neither are good in your situation.

Similarly in the US, old lead paint on window frames was identified as the likely source of lead poisoning in children and they had a programme of replacement - that is what I would do if you can afford it but painting over it is an alternative.

But anywhere with lead paint that children can chew like windowsills, toys and cots is bad. Teething rings and nipple guards for breastfeeding used to be made from lead 😱

Lead particles are heavy so should settle. I would keep washing down surfaces and floors to remove them rather than vacuum.

The majority of lead in the human body is in the skeleton where it is reasonably safe until it is released due to calcium demand, e.g. pregnancy or rapid growth. Bone turnover in growing children can be over 100% a year so it will be quickly cleared from their skeleton compared to mature adults where it's only about 3%.

@Olsrose did you get your results? We’ve done the same here and I am besides myself with worry. Would be really keen to find out how you are all doing now. TIA