Tip of the Day: Use a lead test kit to identify problems at your home

Lead paint is an obvious health risk and could even impact a pending home sale. If you are concerned about lead paint, buying a lead-paint test kit ($8 to $30) could be a good start.

A while back, Consumer Reports Senior Editor Ed Perratore had his circa-1950 Cape Cod home checked for lead by a certified lead-paint inspector, who used an x-ray fluorescence device to detect lead under multiple coats of paint.

Deborah Wallace, a senior project leader in our Technical Division, then marked the spots where the inspector detected lead levels exceeding 1.0 milligram per square centimeter, the level at which the federal government requires abatement in public housing. Later, under Wallace's supervision, Perratore tried seven home test kits on those spots and rated the instructions of each kit and how easy the kits were to use.

Every kit indicated lead was present at the marked spots. We then tested the kits in our laboratories by adding lead to latex paint and applying it to glass substrates. All of the kits successfully detected the lead; the video (right) shows which ones best combined accuracy with ease of use. For more details, read our September 2008 ratings-based report, which also includes coverage of radon test kits. (Ratings of lead test kits and radon tests kits are available to subscribers.)

Perratore was happy to learn that lead paint was only in limited areas of his home, even though his house was built 28 years before the federal government banned lead paint in 1978. "As it all turned out, only three exterior doors and their frames tested positive, and we want to replace them anyway," Perratore notes, adding that a basement stairway also tested positive, something he can easily stabilize. Everywhere else tested negative, including the bedrooms, the windowsills, the closets, and the playroom where his kids played for years.

"My kids have made it well into their teen years with no harmful effects from lead," he notes.—Gian Trotta

Essential information: If the results you get from a lead test kit indicate action levels inside or outside your home, get a quantitative analysis by hiring a certified lead-hazard assessor to determine the extent of the problem or sending samples to a certified lab. For more information, visit this page at the EPA Web site. And learn more ways to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals, especially during projects at your home.