Early pregnancy and house reno/dust

[Worriedaboutdust]

Hello! I’m hoping someone might be able to come along and put my mind at ease/convince me I’m being a bit mad!

I’ve just found out I’m pregnant (about four weeks) on our first month of trying which is really exciting.

But I’ve suddenly started to worry as we’re halfway through a loft conversion and we’re living in while it’s done. The builders have just knocked through the ceiling so there is a lot of dust, and have had to saw into some old door frames which are covered in old (potentially lead based) paint. I’ve not been doing any of the work myself but have been working from
home in a room next door while this was going on and dipping in and out of the hallway where they’ve been working. The dust is still quite heavy despite the builders cleaning up after themselves.

I’ve now got myself in a bit of a tizzy about lead poisoning/exposing myself to toxins at such an early stage in pregnancy. Does anyone have any experience of this? Should we think about moving out until the work is finished in about 6 weeks? Or do anything else to protect the pregnancy?

Feeling quite stupid that I didn’t consider this as an issue at all until today!

In terms of minimising exposure: Get yourself a proper mask (actually sealed over nose and mouth) with replaceable filters for when you’re out in the hallway etc. Use dustsheets hung over on doors (you can even get zipped ones) where you are working. Dont work from home if possible? Keep ventilation flowing through the day. Use a dust extraction system (aren’t the builders doing this anyway?) and maybe a hepa filter running where you work and sleep? We are doing some renovating too atm and everywhere is dust sheet! I asked them to seal off door while working in the room and they have big windows to open for ventilation. Not the best but we need to get rid of damp and mould before baby makes it their room!

can’t say much on whether it’s harmful or not. Non toxic dust isn’t good for your own lungs, but if well ventilated and short term I’m sure your lungs would resolve any issue. Toxic stuff yeah, def avoid that dust in pregnancy or any time. I have lead testers for paint (you dip them in vinegar then rub on surface in question, a bit with exposed layers or paint obvs). Shouldn’t the workers have removed the doors to saw through if lead paint? Or wet them down first? I work with some toxic stuff and a lot of dust, sharing a space with carpenters and painters and so have avoided working in pregnancy. Shit to be living off savings when about to embark on parenthood but after infertility it’s well worth it. Good luck! It’s all about minimising exposure I’d say.

Thanks for this reply, it’s super helpful. I think we will move out just for a short period to see if we can escape more of the dust and I might get a blood test to check lead levels for peace of mind.

On the lead paint - the doors themselves are new and don’t have an issue, it’s the door frames which in our Victorian house have been painted over a lot, and we’re worried there is some lead paint layered underneath. A lesson for us!

Ah yes, also in a Victorian house and esp any gloss or eggshell type surfaces (basically wood or metal) have lead paint lurking below the top layers! I now have red sandstone dust floating about my house! Gladly it’s been pretty carefully managed and it’s just a light amount of it has spread to the rest of the house but still! Best of luck :)

We had an experience similar to you and it had a major impact on our lives. I was shocked to learn dust released from roof voids often has higher lead concentrations than dust released from paint (because of pollution accumulated during the time of leaded fuel) - so presence or absence of lead paint can often be a bit of a red herring. I'm a strong advocate of doing dust wipe tests after renovations and testing childrens' blood at age 2 as a routine precaution, like they do in the US.