Here's what one might expect a modern clearance test to look like in 2018

For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:

Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).

Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
Since July of 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for five product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
Please check out our press page to see some of the amazing coverage of our work so far this year!

I share this with my readers as a basis for comparison with the clearance test report for Lewis Elementary School, which I published earlier today. Please read this article for context.

Important points to note:

This is a summary of testing completed in a single family dwelling in August 2017. (I am going to follow-up with the family today to confirm the square footage of their home.)
This test report states that it used current HUD guidelines as a basis for testing and determinations.
This is a report for a standard (not large) single family dwelling.
In the interest of truly protecting the children in the home, 18 dust samples were taken at the home to be thorough and complete.
The low threshold of detection for all samples taken (of one square foot or more) was at or below 5 micrograms of Lead dust per square foot (as marked by me with RED STARS).
The only samples with a higher threshold of detection were samples where it was not possible to include a full square foot, which impacted the accuracy level (as marked by me with BLUE OVALS).
Of the areas that test positive for Lead in the dust, the lowest positive reading was as specific as “10.3 micrograms of Lead per square foot” (as shown marked with YELLOW RECTANGLES).
This report demonstrates that it is possible and reasonable to expect a hazard assessment or clearance test to provide results as low as 10 micrograms per square foot and that it is possible and reasonable to expect the low threshold of the limit of detection for such a test to be “at or below 5 micrograms of Lead dust per square foot” in all cases where it is possible to take a full square foot sample.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama