Do you worry about lead in your home?

Lead Exposure Awareness

What's in your tap water?

Lead is not normally found in drinking water at the source. Typically, lead gets into your drinking water from the service lines, plumbing and fixtures that contain lead. As a result of corrosion, lead and other metals from the pipes slowly dissolve into the water. Many factors affect the amount of lead that leaches into the water, including lead content of pipes, fixtures, and solder, along with water temperature, pH and hardness. Lead is associated with adverse health impacts even at low levels, particularly in infants and children.

Source: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Other sources of lead exposure at home

Lead can be found throughout a child’s environment.

Homes built before 1978 (when lead-based paints were banned) probably contain lead-based paint. When the paint peels and cracks, it makes lead dust. Children can be exposed to lead when they swallow or breathe in lead dust.
Certain water pipes may contain lead.
Lead can be found in some products such as toys and jewelry.
Lead is sometimes in candies or traditional home remedies.
Certain jobs and hobbies involve working with lead-based products, like stain glass work, and may cause parents to bring lead into the home.
Children who live near airports may be exposed to lead in air and soil from aviation gas.

Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention