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She usually stands on her little chair and looks out with her hands on the chair. Her hands dont touch the sill that i can recall.
I have thought about an attorney. DH seems to think that we are fully responsible because we are the homeowners. The test we had before we moved in did not involve an xray it was basically someone looking and saying all looked ok. Clearly we should have had a better lead inspection but again lead is in a lot of older homes. So im thinking this would all come back to us for not doing a more thorough lead inspection. I had nooo idea we'd be where we are today. Appareny in tact paint layers over layers of lead paint doesn't cut it.
How did other generations of people grow up in these homes and today it's become such an epidemic?
My husband is a cop and works nights. He's home with my daughter and son during the day. My dad also helps out and stays at our house. We did have a babysitter up until this last feb and the kids would stay with her but my son was there starting at 3 months as well and his lead level was a 3 at 1 yr. Shes had no work done at her house.
So the inspector came out and as suspected there are traces of lead which we figured since its old. He said the traces he found should not be harmful because the paint is in tact with nothing chipping. The traces were on the window sills and baseboards. He found no lead in the soil. He wasnt able to test our water so we have to do that through someone else. He didnt think the water was highly suspect particularly since my daughter who tested high isnt drinking it but we should get it checked.
So ive heard traces of lead paint are enough to elevate levels but as i keep saying a 9 is high so it seems like they are really getting to my daughter. I asked the nurse on the phone if people and kids just process and absorb it differently and she said yes. The inspector recommendes we get a hpec vaccuum or something which is used for lead dust. He asked my DH if shes biting on the window sill and she doenst do that but she does go over there to look out the window.
We are still getting my son checked out Friday and i will get tested too. I am really not finding much info online about spreading lead through breastfeeding.
I feel terrible and angry mostly at myself for not realizing what was happening. There literally is no chipping or peeling paint but lead dust is a mother f*cker...i just wish i knew we had it. We do vaccuum and mop the floors several times a week...but i guess it didnt matter.
I still cant believe a level of 9...i thought for sure youd have to be eating paint chips, licking walls and drinking water to make much of an impact. Any level of lead is bad...but treatment isnt needed until 40 or 45. For now i am just going to focus on reducing her lead level and not let her in certain areas of the house, get the vaccuum.
Im going to talk more to the inspector about what our options are for de leading further. Moving just isnt an option right now.
You mentioned your daughter puts everything in her mouth. It's likely her chubby, and sometimes a little drool covered hands are picking up the minute particles of dust and when she puts stuff in her mouth taking in the dust. Besides a heap filter vac, a good quality air purifier and it wouldn't hurt to replace the filters on your furnace every month instead of every two or three. Oh, and lots of hand wiping. I am sure you do it a lot anyway but you are going to have to double down on that one until her levels come down.
Good luck and try not to best yourself up. Our parents were given cribs with lead paint, and they turned out fine. You're doing the right things, the numbers should turn around.
She usually stands on her little chair and looks out with her hands on the chair. Her hands dont touch the sill that i can recall.
I have thought about an attorney. DH seems to think that we are fully responsible because we are the homeowners. The test we had before we moved in did not involve an xray it was basically someone looking and saying all looked ok. Clearly we should have had a better lead inspection but again lead is in a lot of older homes. So im thinking this would all come back to us for not doing a more thorough lead inspection. I had nooo idea we'd be where we are today. Appareny in tact paint layers over layers of lead paint doesn't cut it.
How did other generations of people grow up in these homes and today it's become such an epidemic?
I would check with an attorney for the simple reason you can probably get a free consultation as this would be case handled on a contingency basis.
Whether anyone else is legally responsible, like the inspector, the seller, or anyone else involved in the transaction would ultimately be decided by a jury. Or more likely, if the lawyer of anyone sued felt they were remotely responsible, they would settle to avoid you toting your adorable daughter into court for a jury to see while they considered the case.
I don't know the laws in MASS for disclosure of lead paint, inspections etc so I cant really say what would happen. It does seem a bit irresponsible to me that the inspector made that statement without testing anything.
In short, imo, you have nothing to lose by consulting an attorney.
My sister ended up with a 600,000 second mortgage held by the seller being forgiven. There were 5 kids involved......so not sure if that drove the amount up. It was settled out of court.
So i was just reading that the swabs dont always work on those objects? I ordered 3M brand ones.
Oh so the xray thing he had didnt detect anything on the surface? Only detects layers down?? Im going to have to call this guy. He's emailing a report of his findings
No, it detects any lead anywhere up to X number of inches (depending). Meaning, it could have detected lead, even if it wasn't on the surface.
She usually stands on her little chair and looks out with her hands on the chair. Her hands dont touch the sill that i can recall.
I have thought about an attorney. DH seems to think that we are fully responsible because we are the homeowners. The test we had before we moved in did not involve an xray it was basically someone looking and saying all looked ok. Clearly we should have had a better lead inspection but again lead is in a lot of older homes. So im thinking this would all come back to us for not doing a more thorough lead inspection. I had nooo idea we'd be where we are today. Appareny in tact paint layers over layers of lead paint doesn't cut it.
How did other generations of people grow up in these homes and today it's become such an epidemic?
I'm SO sorry for your distress!
It's probably old lead paint perhaps in an older home.
The hospital that diagnosed the lead poisoning would surely have people you can contact to figure out the source.
What you need is a HEPA vacuum. HEPA is the filter they use to filter out fine particles. A lot of regular vacuums use HEPA filters. My Shark vacuum does..
Maybe you should get her a HEPA air filter for her bedroom too until you get this sorted out.
Good luck. I hope you find the cause.
I have an IQ Air hospital grade air purifier - the portable one.
It's fantastic. I got it because I was allergic to a bird's dander.
It has a lifetime warranty, made in Switzerland with a super duper quality control
It has 3 filters - a prefilter, a carbon, a HEPA.
But you want to make sure you buy the carbon layer (optional) which gets rid of even FISH or CIGAR odors and absorbs MCS in the air.
She usually stands on her little chair and looks out with her hands on the chair. Her hands dont touch the sill that i can recall.
I have thought about an attorney. DH seems to think that we are fully responsible because we are the homeowners. The test we had before we moved in did not involve an xray it was basically someone looking and saying all looked ok. Clearly we should have had a better lead inspection but again lead is in a lot of older homes. So im thinking this would all come back to us for not doing a more thorough lead inspection. I had nooo idea we'd be where we are today. Appareny in tact paint layers over layers of lead paint doesn't cut it.
How did other generations of people grow up in these homes and today it's become such an epidemic?
It's an evolving thing. There's evidence that people HAVE grown up with at least...the symptoms of lead toxicity. The behavioral and learning difficulties. Parent's are all different, too. Some don't allow ANYTHING to be in their mouths and others ignore the kid actually CHEWING OFF windowsills!
I'm not exactly "blaming" your husband but if he's her caregiver when you work and she had another one before him, you haven't been the one with her 24 hrs per day so maybe there's something seemingly innocent that you don't know about.
So you pump for when you're at work? You're SURE she doesn't ingest ANYTHING other than breast milk? I nursed my son for 14 months but he was eating FOOD, too from early on.
It's tricky. These things affect individuals differently. And it's kind of like allergies, you have to rule things in and out until you eventually figure out the offending "stuff".
Example: I lived in an apartment for a year over the landlord. I had two small parrots and they are high risk for metal toxicity, FUME toxicity and a bunch of other stuff.
The FIRST WEEK I moved in, the landlord PAINTED his apartment.
I didn't know until one of my birds died - just fell over within 24 hrs. As it turns out HE was the "strong one" who had powerful lung capacity from me allowing him to fly all over my house and develop physical strength whereas the survivor was the "weak" one I had adopted for him.
She couldn't fly or even climb much.
A specialist told me HE inhaled much more of those fumes from his strong lungs than she did and that's why he died and she didn't.
Moral of the story: You may not figure it out but if the offending object (like maybe the ducks you threw out) are gone, her levels should gradually lower over three months. You'll find out if it's the water and even if she doesn't "drink" water she does ingest some while bathing, right?
If they don't...that's a problem and I'd go to the best specialist I could find.
Don't say you can't move. You may HAVE TO. I'd be checking my homeowners policy with a lawyer to see if loss of use would be covered. And even if it's NOT, it may be that you'll HAVE TO move out with the baby to see if a different dwelling ends up decreasing the levels if you can't figure out anything else.
I might be in denial but im having a hard time understanding how she could be at a level 9 due to the traces of lead paint in our house. Nothing is chipping!! And as someone mentioned the xray thing the inspector used likely found lead that wasnt even on the surface. She does chew on toys. I mentioned i have seen her holding cords and putting them in her mouth, not really chewing. She also has out the remote control in her mouth on occasion. She's not a finger or thumb sucker but yeah she does put her fingers in her mouth. I just feel like 9 is way above the national average. Our house is clean and well maintained. It was rennovated in 2014, the lead paint was encapsulated, then my DH even painted over most of that work. We got confirmation that yes there are traces of lead paint but we are not the only family who has moved into a house that once had lead paint particularly in new England where most houses are old.
I mentioned in another thread that she has a port wine stain birthmark that covers her eyelid and part of her forehead. The placement of the mark puts her at risk for glaucoma and brain abnormalities (seizures). Typically these would happen in the first year of life and ive been happy to see her reach all her milestones and she's had no issues. I have dug deep and it seems like people with this birthmark can go on to have migraines and learning disabilities. Now i feel like if anything goes wrong ill never know what it is. The birthmark or this lead level.
I also mentioned she had to have an mri at 3 weeks due to the birthmark with gandolinium contrast. It contains a heavy metal that was recently approved for use on infants and now im reading that there have been cases of this metal staying in the body. Of course im wondering if the lead test could be picking this up if it stayed in her system. Im just racking my brain trying to think of anything shes been exposed to in her life. For her laser treatments she had a special numbing cream put on her, shes also had special eye drops used on her for eye tests. Now im wondering if the laser used on her which basically burns the skin could have some type of lead base. I cant imagine any medical products would contain lead but who the hell knows. I had no idea that the contrast for her mri was a heavy metal.
I just cant accept that she got to a level 9 from lead paint traces in our home...yet my son was a 3 in the same house. Also thinking of the renovation the neighbors did last spring.
At that level, it is not going to be dust or something in the air. Even lead based paint has only a little bit of lead and paint is very thin coating. More likely from your water, or something she picked up in the yard. Lead has to be ingested, not just present. Also have her tested again - at a different place.
Get your water tested. Does she bathe in it? Do you cook with tap water? OR at least get you tested.
Check the exterior paint and the ground immediately below the siding.
Look through her toys. Does she eat crayons? For a while those cheap crayons they gave out at restaurants had lead in them.
If you have cast iron radiators, they were frequently painted with lead based paint and kids tend to suck on them.
Just because she has elevated lead levels does not mean she has brain development issues. 10 is the old "level of concern" They do not know at what level there is or will be a problem. They base the current acceptable levels (5) off of a reference standard (i.e. what level 97% of kids are at or below). Not every kid who gets exposed to lead ends up with developmental issues. How did people live with it all this time? It is pretty rare so it took a while to figure it out. Under the old system 10 meant you need to reduce their exposure to lead, not panic and kick yourself in the head, they are doomed.
There are treatments for lead poisoning. They are expensive. Your insurance may or may not cover it.
Where does she stay while you are at work?
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