Lead at Home: The Facts, the Blood Test and the House Check

No safe level of lead in children has been identified. Even low levels in the blood are linked to harm to intellect, concentration, behavior and schoolwork, and a child with lead poisoning may look and act perfectly healthy. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 3.3 million U.S. households with a child under 6 have lead hazards from deteriorated paint, dust or soil.

Every year, in the last full week of October — also Children's Health Month — the CDC, EPA and HUD run National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. In 2026 it falls on October 25–31, under the theme Keep Kids Safe From Lead, and its three messages make a good checklist for any family: get the facts, get your child tested, get your home tested.

Image from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's page.

Why young children

Children under 6 are the most vulnerable: their bodies are growing fast, and they put hands and objects — which may carry lead dust — in their mouths. Even small amounts can delay growth and development, lower IQ, cause learning difficulties, damage the brain and nervous system, and bring hearing, speech and behavior problems. Pregnant women are at particular risk from paint chips and dust as well.

Where the lead is

A diet with plenty of calcium, iron and vitamin C may help reduce how much lead the body absorbs; children with healthy diets absorb less.

Get your child tested

A blood test is the best way to know. Levels tend to rise between 6 and 12 months and peak at 18 to 24 months, so testing early matters.

• Required: children enrolled in Medicaid, at 12 and 24 months — and between 24 and 72 months if they have never been tested.
• Recommended: children at 12 and 24 months who live in higher-risk areas or belong to higher-risk groups; any child or family member who has been exposed; and children covered by a state or local testing plan.

Ask the doctor how the result compares with the CDC's blood lead reference value of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, which marks children whose levels are higher than those of most U.S. children (97.5% of those aged 1–5). Depending on the level, the next steps may be removing lead sources, better nutrition, early-education services and follow-up tests — and, for very high levels, medication to remove lead from the body.

Get your home tested

Before renovating, repairing or painting a home built before 1978:

1. Find out when it was built.
2. Have it inspected by a certified lead-based paint inspector or risk assessor — or assume the paint contains lead.
3. Hire a lead-safe certified contractor, or follow EPA's lead-safe practices if you do the work yourself.
4. Never strip lead paint yourself. Removing it (abatement) is a job for professionals.

Anyone who rents out part of a home, runs a home child-care center, or renovates houses to sell should become lead-safe certified, or hire a certified contractor, before starting work. And when a pre-1978 home is rented or sold, the landlord or seller must disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards and hand over the pamphlet Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home.

The campaign's symbol

The week's Lead Free Kids icon — "for a Healthy Future" — is offered in English, Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, for anyone to use on their own materials, along with flyers, banners and sample posts tagged #NLPPW2026 and #LeadFreeKids.

Image from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's page.

The icon in Haitian Creole. Image from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's page.

Sources

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.