Homax Lead Check - Home Lead Test Kit

Many houses and apartments built before 1978 have paint that contains high levels of lead (called leadbased paint).
Lead from paint, chips, and dust can pose serious health hazards if not taken care of properly.

LeadCheck® instantly detects lead on any surface and can be
helpful in preventing toxic lead accumulations and lead poisoning

As well as being valuable to home owners LeadCheck® is also valuable to contractors who are not likely to pay for or wait for professional lead testing every time you work on a building that was built prior to 1978. It provides you with an inexpensive and fast way to know - if you cut, scrape or renovate, that you may be contaminating the building and exposing your workers to hazardous lead.

Lead Gets in the Body in Many Ways

People can get lead in their body if they:

• Breathe in lead dust (especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces).
• Put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths.
• Eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.

Lead is even more dangerous to children under the age of 6:

• At this age children's brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.
• Children's growing bodies absorb more lead.
• Babies and young children often put their hands and other objects in their mouths. These objects can have lead dust on them.

Lead is also dangerous to women of childbearing age:

• Women with a high lead level in their system prior to pregnancy would expose a fetus to lead through the placenta during fetal development.

Lead's Effects

It is important to know that even exposure to low levels of lead can severely harm children.

In children, lead can cause:

• Nervous system and kidney damage.
• Learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and decreased intelligence.
• Speech, language, and behavior problems.
• Poor muscle coordination.
• Decreased muscle and bone growth.
• Hearing damage.
  

While low-lead exposure is most common, exposure to high levels of lead can have devastating effects on children, including seizures, unconsciousness, and, in some cases, death.

Although children are especially susceptible to lead exposure, lead can be dangerous for adults too.

In adults, lead can cause:

• Increased chance of illness during pregnancy.
• Harm to a fetus, including brain damage or death.
• Fertility problems (in men and women).
• High blood pressure.
• Digestive problems.
• Nerve disorders.
• Memory and concentration problems.
• Muscle and joint pain.
  
  
  How To Use Lead Check
  
  Steps
  
  Crush
  With the swab tip pointing up, squeeze and crush points "A" and "B" located on the barrel of the swab. The swab must be used immediately after crushing.
  
  Shake and Squeeze
  With the swab tip point down, shake twice and squeeze gently until the yellow liquid appears on the swab tip.
  
  Rub
  While squeezing gently, rub the swab tip on the test area for 30 seconds. If the tip or the surface turns pink to red, lead is present. If there is no color change, it indicates that the surface is safe and is not leaching hazardous levels of lead.
  
  After testing, wash test items/surfaces with an all-purpose cleaner.
  

Some Frequently Asked Questions about Lead Check

What is inside the swabs? Is it hazardous?
LeadCheck® Swabs contains a non-toxic lead reactive dye that is specific for lead. The dye reacts with lead and turns a distinctive pink or red color.
There is nothing hazardous in this material.

It says on the card that it can be used for 1-2 tests, what does that mean?
There is enough chemical in the swab to do two tests.
You can do this providing that the first test preformed is negative (There is no color change to indicate lead) and the swab is used with in the 2 minutes of the time that you activated it. If the fist test result is positive and a color change on the swab indicates the presence of lead, than only one test can be performed using that swab.

How long are the swabs good for?
A swab that has not been activated will last forever.
Once the swab is activated (glass vials are crushed) and the chemical mixed they remain active for about 2 minutes.

Can the LeadCheck® Swabs be used to test for lead in water?
No. They are not meant to detect lead in water. They are not sensitive enough to meet the lead in water standard.