Lead paint dust - how on earth can you decorate safely?!

[thegreekmythsII]

I've moved into a victorian terrace house. It needs total redecorating - the previous owners have done a slap dash job and painted all wood with white satin and magnolia on the walls.

My issue is that there is definitely old lead paint on the woodwork underneath the new redecorating (I did one of those tests from B&Q).

There will be acres of wood to sand down and dust everywhere and I just don't understand how you can do this safely? I don't want to be breathing in this dust and I certainly don't want to expose the dcs to it. What do professional p&d's do when they work on your house?

I think you can use a heat gun or chemical paint stripper instead.

www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/cis79.pdf May be useful.
Also from the hse:

"You can take simple steps to stop dust and fume:

Plan your work – only strip back old paint if it is flaking, chipping or it is a risk to children.

If paint is in poor condition remove using a combination of chemical paint stripper, wet abrasive paper and on-tool extraction.

If paint is in good condition use wet abrasive paper to make a key for the new coat of paint.

Remove any debris with a damp cloth.

Place any debris, cloths, abrasive paper in a plastic bag for disposal."

Well I looked it up and pretty much everywhere it said hire a professional used to dealing with lead paint. You can contaminate your whole house and it is especially dangerous for childrent o be exposed.
here is the procedure
www.health.ny.gov/publications/2502/

I sanded my stairs before leaning about lead paint. I hope I won't loose my mind soon!

Well I looked it up and pretty much everywhere it said hire a professional used to dealing with lead paint. You can contaminate your whole house and it is especially dangerous for children to be exposed.
here is the procedure
www.health.ny.gov/publications/2502/

I sanded my stairs before leaning about lead paint. I hope I won't loose my mind soon!