Paint stripping in pregnancy panic

[MarmitePhil]

Hello all, new to this site, about 9/40 1st pregnancy.

I'm panicking a bit as I used a heat gun to strip some old paint from skirting boards yesterday, then read afterwards that I could inhale lead in the fumes which can damage the baby's brain.

I was only doing it for about 30 mins and had a basic mask on but am really worrying now.

Any ideas of anything I can or should do now? Any advice gratefully received!

DH is a painter / decorator and we've spent the entire of my pregnancy renovating our house (I'm now 35 weeks).

Lead paint is relatively rare, it's not been commonly used in houses since the 1960s and was completely banned in the late 70s / early 80s, so unless the paint you were removing was very old and the surface hadn't been prepared properly for painting since that time, you wouldn't have been exposed... hopefully that makes you feel a little better? X

It is an old house (1930) and there were several layers of paint to remove.

I know I can't undo what I've done but wondered if I should be getting a blood test or something...

Please don't panic, I highly doubt that 30 minutes of exposure while wearing a mask is in anyway going to cause any damage to your child. I think walking down a busy street in rush hour would expose you to more toxic fumes and vapours than that.

From the NHS website - "If the paint you are stripping contains lead, you could inhale it in the clouds of dust that come from stripping the paint."

So I would try not to worry - if you were wearing a mask, it's unlikely you were breathing in 'clouds of dust' in any great quantities.

We have spent most of this pregnancy doing DIY in the house. I had a panic at about 30 weeks and mentioned it to the MW. She said that as long as I wasn't doing it all day every day, which I wasn't, there was no need to worry. I did heat stripping, gloss painting, sanding floors etc.

I wouldn't worry too much... but from now on get yourself a proper good quality vapour mask which replaceable cartridges.... you will find that you will want it for yourself and not just your baby. A vapour one will stop you smelling any fumes. I found that by the time I was 12 weeks - I couldn't stand even the smell of the low VOC paint and the mask was the only thing that meant I could finish decorating the house. And use disposable gloves as well... much easier to throw gloves away than to keep washing hands.

Aww thanks all, I do feel reassured by comments and will definitely look to get one of those masks Jersey37 so I can keep doing some house decorating, but will stick to applying new water based pain not stripping old dodgy paint!