04-10-2007, 03:48 AM
Breathing dust is not a common lead exposure route for kids, however ingestion is extremely common and you'd be surprised how many kids get exposed at levels high enough to cause permanent neurological damage. The primary routes of exposure in urban areas tend to be 1) lead paint dust from poor condition window/door trim getting into the flooring materials where it gets on toddlers' fingers which they suck, and 2) lead paint chips and dust in the soil within 5 feet of the house that gets on toddlers' fingers as they play outside...or even worse, they eat the brightly colored paint chips. The lower threshold exposure level for lead poisoning for toddlers is generally between about 150 and 400 parts per million (ppm) lead in soil, depending on state and other factors. It is extremely common to find soil concentrations in the 10s of 1000s within 5 feet of a house that has been carelessly sanded or scraped in the past, compared to 100 ppm or less further out in the yard. I've worked on literally hundreds of homes with lead issues, and believe me, it is utter insanity to carelessly dump all that lead paint into the soil around the house.