Steps To Help Lower Your Child's Blood Lead Level

On this page:
Step 1 - Regular Washing
Step 2 - A Safer Home
Step 3 - Eat Healthy Foods
Step 4 - Medical Care

Step 1 - Regular washing

• Wash your child's hands often with soap and water. Make sure their hands are clean before meals, snacks, nap and bedtime.
• Trim your child's fingernails regularly.
• Wash your child's toys, pacifiers, and bottles often with soap and water.
• If you come into contact with lead at your job, be sure to shower, wash your hair and change out your work clothes and shoes before coming into your home.
• Wash any clothes that have come into contact with lead separately from other family clothes.

Step 2 - A safer home

• Wet wash your home often - especially window sills and wells.
• Do not use your regular household vacuum to pick up paint chips or dust that contains lead.
• Place washable rugs at each entrance to the home. Wash rugs separately from other items.
• Take your shoes off before coming into the home.
• Shampoo carpets often.
• Cover bare soil in your yard with sod, wood chips or other ground cover.
• Learn how to safely make home repairs to homes built before 1978. Never dry-sand, dry-scrape or use a heat gun to burn old lead-based paint.

Step 3 - Eat healthy foods

• Feed your child food that is high in calcium, iron and Vitamin C.
• Eat all meals and snacks at the table.
• Don't eat food that has fallen on the floor.
• Use only cold tap water for drinking, cooking and making food or baby formula.
• Do not use home remedies or cosmetics that contain lead.

Step 4 - Medical care

• Children with too much lead in their blood may need to have more blood tests. The tests are to make sure that the lead is leaving the body. It is very important that you go to all of the medical appointments and follow your doctor's instructions. Your doctor will also talk to you about other things you can do to help lower the amount of lead in your child's blood.