Lead Poisoning Abatement Issues

Hartford Health Department
Lead Poisoning Prevention and Education Program

The information below can help parents, homeowners, and contractors with regards to abating lead and lead-based paint.  This information should be used as guidelines only.  Please consult a Connecticut State Certified Lead Abatement Professional with any detailed questions you may have.

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LEAD ABATEMENT ISSUES (source:   State of Connecticut Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program)

All lead problems should be abated.  For information about abatement, contact your local health department.  The following information might prove useful in the time between when you find out you have a lead problem, and when your residence can get abated.

Parents:  For Chipping Paint and Lead Dust Inside Your Home

• Move furniture to block your child from paint that is chipping and peeling.  Also block your child from painted areas that he or she may bit, chew, or suck on.

• Move your child's bedroom or play area to a room where there is no peeling or flaking paint.

• Cover window sills with contact paper, so that your child can't get to loose paint.

• If windows have flaking and peeling paint, try to keep those windows closed until they are fixed.  Use other windows instead.

• Watch your child closely to see if your child is handling paint chips or finding areas where paint is peeling or flaking.

• Tell people who watch your child (such as baby-sitters and relatives) about your child's lead poisoning and where lead hazards are found in your home so your child won't get to them.

• Wash and dry your child's hands often, especially before your child eats.

• If there are paint chips on the floors or other flat surfaces, use a tack cloth to pick them up.  Do not dry sweep with a broom or brush to clean up paint chips and flakes!

• Use tacky tape to remove loose, flaking lead paint, if only a small area is flaking.

• Repair small holes in walls or doors with spackle or caulking.   Put a drop cloth on the floor to catch debris.

• Attach felt pads to drawers and cabinets that are painted with lead paint to reduce impact damage.

Parents:  For Lead Hazards Outside Your Home

• Place doormats on the inside and outside of the main entrance to your home, so that you don't track in lead-contaminated soil.

• Take your shoes off before entering your home.

• Do not let your child play in bare or exposed soil areas.

• Wash your child's toys before allowing your child to play with them.

• Keep your pet on a leash and out of bare soil, so that your pet does not track lead dust into your home.

• Tell your child not to eat snow because it may contain lead and other pollutants.

Landlords:  What you can do Before Lead Abatement Begins

• Cover window sills with contact paper, so that the child can't get to loose paint.

• If windows have flaking and peeling paint, ask the tenants to keep those windows closed until they are fixed.  Ask them to use other windows instead.

• Attach felt pads to drawers and cabinets that are painted with lead paint to reduce impact damage.

• Do not dry sweep with a broom or brush to clean up paint chips and flakes!  Use a tack cloth to pick up any  paint chips on the floors or other flat surfaces. 

• Use tacky tape to remove loose, flaking lead paint, if only a small area is flaking.

• Repair small holes in walls or doors with spackle or caulking.   Put a drop cloth on the floor to catch debris.

• You must tell the parents or guardian of the lead poisoned child exactly where lead paint and lead hazards are located in and around the apartment building.

• If lead paint hazards are found, the health department will give you warning signs to post on main entrances.  These signs warn building occupants about lead paint hazards on the property.

• Before abatement begins, make sure you fix water leaks that can cause more paint damage (from radiators, faucets, roofs, etc.).

• You will need to quickly abate or manage the lead paint and lead paint hazards on your property.  If you need any help, ask your local health department.   They are prepared to help you.

Landlords:  For Lead Paint and Lead Hazards Outside

• Place doormats on the outside of the main entrance to the apartment.

• Surround bare soil areas in the yard with a barrier of some kind.

• Move swing sets or other children's play equipment to a part of the yard where there is no bare soil.

For further information about the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program at the Hartford Health Department, contact:

Arlene Robertson, Project Supervisor
(860) 543-8877