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.

Buzzword: XRF

What it means. XRF is not the name of hipster rock band or a new "miracle" diet pill. Rather, this abbreviation stands for x-ray fluorescence, a technique used to detect the presence of elements like lead, cadmium, and arsenic in toys, paints, and other consumer products. If an element is present in a product, an XRF analyzer stirs it up with x-rays and measures the fluorescence activity to determine its relative level. XRF also has industrial and environmental uses.

Why the buzz? As we reported in the December 2007 issue of Consumer Reports and as you might have read in news stories over the last year, a rising number of consumer goods have been found to contain dangerous levels of lead. X-ray fluorescence has become a part of the efforts to get these hazardous products off the market. Armed with XRF analyzers, public-health officials, advocacy groups, and responsible manufacturers are able to rapidly screen goods for lead and other harmful elements.

XRF machines like the model shown are pricey, costing upward of $35,000, so you won't find them at a nearby home center. But you can hire a lead professional to perform an XRF test on paint and soil in and around your home. Note that homes built before 1978, when lead paint was banned, are very likely to harbor lead somewhere, sometimes buried, in the walls, woodwork or soil and exterior siding. To find a testing company in your area, go to www.epa.gov/lead (click on "lead professionals") or call the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-5323.

With all the news about lead in toys and other products, the market for home lead-test kits is growing. Home-use lead test kits, while far more limited than XRF, are another way you can find sources of lead in your home. These kits detect only surface, or accessible, lead, not lead embedded below the surface. For more information, read our September 2008 review of lead and radon test kits. (Note that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advises against using these kits for the screening of toys, jewelry, and other consumer products.)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the EPA have found that lead test kits can be effective in identifying lead paint when used correctly. Although, as our tests confirmed, they don't measure the levels of lead present, which, in some cases could be below the federal standards in some positive tests.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Read this post from the Consumer Reports Safety blog about Jeffrey Weidenhamer, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Ashland University who's been instrumental in raising public awareness about consumer products with high lead levels. And learn how to deal with lead paint in your home.

Radon in countertops question stays in the news

Do granite countertops emit dangerous levels of radon? That question continues to get attention, as evidenced by a front-page story in the Home section of the July 24, 2008, edition of The New York Times. “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?” the headline inquires ominously in the story by Kate Murphy.

We reported on this very subject last month in Buzzword: Radon, which noted that there’s not much evidence that granite countertops release harmful amounts of this potentially dangerous gas into homes. Radon remains the second leading cause of lung cancer in the country.

We recently tested 11 do-it-yourself radon test kits. Look for our report and ratings of these kits in the September 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, on sale and online in early August.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Learn how to deal with radon.

Buzzword: Radon

What it is. Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that results from the natural decay of uranium in soil and rock. The gas moves up from the ground and can diffuse into the air or enter a home, typically through cracks and holes in the foundation or concrete slab. (Radon can also enter the home through well water and by way of some building materials). The presence of radon in the home can pose a danger to your health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in this country.

Why the buzz? Radon has been in the news recently with reports that some granite countertops can release dangerous levels of radon. This isn't a new claim—it surfaced in the 1990s—and it's fairly controversial. In April 2008, BuildClean, a nonprofit that aims to educate consumers about safe and healthy building materials, made news when it announced that its pilot project would provide free in-home radon testing of 300 homes in Houston to determine whether granite countertops emit harmful levels of radon. It's worth noting that two big makers of quartz countertops, Cambria and Cosentino (which also sells granite counters), are the sole funders of BuildClean. "By its nature, granite emits radon—the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.," said Sara Speer Selber, BuildClean's president, in a press release at the time.

Next, in early May, W.J. Llope, Ph.D., a senior faculty fellow at the T.W. Bonner Nuclear Laboratory at Rice University in Houston, released a report in which he analyzed 18 articles covering 95 granite samples. In "Radiation and Radon from Natural Stone" (PDF download), Llope reported that 92 of the granite samples emitted no or very little radon, though two were in the 3.1-to-3.4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) range, and one registered 4.2. (These measurements assume a hypothetical unventilated room, not a standard home, according to Llope's study.) The EPA estimates that the average indoor radon level is 1.3 pCi/L and suggests that you reduce radon when the level in your home is 4 pCi/L or higher.

Dealing with the dangers of radon gas

January is National Radon Action Month. If you’re unsure whether your home has a high level of radon, it's time to find out if your house is among the estimated 1 in 15 with a dangerous level of the cancer-causing radioactive gas, which is estimated to claim 21,000 lives a year in this country.

"We know that radon-related deaths can be prevented," says EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh. "No one has to live in a home with high radon levels because virtually any home with a radon problem can be fixed. Our hope is that once people understand this health risk, they will test their homes for radon and fix any problems they find."

There is no national requirement to test for radon, and the gas is found in every state, though the potential for high levels is greater in some locations (the EPA radon zone map is shown) particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Check with your state radon office to learn about state-specific regulations and to find certified radon-testing and radon-mitigation companies.

What Is Radon?
You can't smell or see radon. It's an odorless, colorless gas that is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. A study published in 2005 in the journal Epidemiology concluded your chance of getting lung cancer increases by 11 percent to 21 percent at average radon concentrations of about 3.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) of air over an exposure period of 5 to 30 years. The EPA recommends radon mitigation at 4.0 pCi/L. And if you're a smoker, the presence of radon in your home will considerably increase your chance of getting lung cancer.

The presence of radon doesn't mean your home was built over an atomic-waste dump. Its origins are natural—from the breakdown of uranium found in almost all soil. The gas finds its way into a home through such paths as cracks and other holes in the foundation.

Home Testing
While you might have had your home tested for radon when you purchased it, research indicates as many as 80 percent of American homes still need to be tested, according to the EPA and the Surgeon General's Office. Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, recommends not waiting for a home sale to check for the gas. If a test already has been completed, it is not necessary to repeat the test, unless you've fundamentally changed your home in a way that could allow more radon to enter the structure. Those changes include adding new windows and doors, modifying your heating or cooling system, adding or changing exhaust systems or any other element that could change the pressure and ventilation characteristics of the house, and building an addition.

Home test kits that measure the level of radon typically cost less than $20. In many locations, you can get discounted kits through your state or county health department or environmental-affairs department. The New York State Department of Health, for example, offers residents a kit for $6.75 and will provide a free kit within a year to any resident who has already had work done by a mitigation contractor and wants to verify that the radon level is low.

Short-term testing takes 2 to 7 days; long-term testing runs for 90 days, giving a more accurate picture of the year-round level. About all you have to do is place a sampling container in the lowest occupied level of your home, typically the basement. Seal the container immediately after the specified test period and send it to the laboratory marked on the package.

After the test is processed, sometimes in just a few days, you’ll receive a report by mail or e-mail or through a Web site that will show the measure of gas detected. You should perform a short-term or long-term follow-up test if the reading is more than 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). (Sometimes the test results show "Working Levels," or WL. The threshold of 4.0 pCi/L corresponds to 0.016 WL.)

If the radon level is high, you can hire a certified radon-remediation contractor. Find one through your state radon office or through these private organizations: the National Environmental Health Association and the National Radon Safety Board. Expect to pay about $800 to $2,500, with an average bill about $1,200.

Contractors will reduce the level of gas in your home by:
• Installing a suction system to draw the gas out of and away from the home
• Changing the ventilation and pressurization in the basement
• Sealing foundation cracks and openings

If you live in an area with a cold climate, it's best to test during the winter months, when windows are closed, limiting air exchange. The low pressure created by a chimney or other ventilation device can draw soil gases into the home near the foundation.

Essential information: To learn about other indoor-air-quality issues, read our report Indoor Air Quality: How Clean is the Air in Your Home? And watch this public-service announcement from the EPA.