Bought a 1920s home with lead a paint, had it professionally tested. Some rooms have high exposure 11-12 with XRF (obviously dangerous) while some areas have 0.2-0.5 positive levels but they say are safe even areas marked 0.9 +- 0.2. My wife thinks lead in the paint is still lead in the house and wants it all removed. Idk how to explain why the lower levels shouldn’t matter vs when the higher level are so toxic. While we don’t have kids now, she wants to get pregnant in about 6 months, so the lead exposure is weighing heavily on her thoughts and concerns right now.
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What matters is the time of exposure and intensity.
Think of it like getting a sunburn. If the sun is behind the clouds (low intensity) you need to spend a long time outside to get a sunburn. If the sun is direct, even 30 minutes can give a sunburn.
People determined that with regular usage (for example spending 16-ish hours a day) you won’t get exposed to enough led to cause health issues as long as the levels are below the safe limit. The exposure above that limit is higher than your body’s ability to deal with the substance which will lead to the disruption of chemical processes in your body.
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