Published December 15, 2019
Hello all! I created this post to be a summary post (a directory of a kind) to answer this question for those starting from the “Start Here” page. Below are links to some of my more important posts about first steps (or first things you want to read) once you find out your child has been Lead poisoned. Click here to go back to the “Start Here” post. As with everything I write about, I am trying to give my readers a starting point to do their own research and better know what questions to ask and what points to consider when making decisions for their family.
Please let me know if you think I am missing anything from the list below.
- The best way to learn about your situation (fast!) would be to watch my documentary film. It’s a crash course/overview of childhood Lead poisoning.
- Knowing what symptoms you might expect down the line is very helpful: Symptoms in Children
- Most doctors are not concerned about low level exposure (and they should be!), so this is a great article to read and share with your doctor: Symptoms of low-level Lead exposure
- You should get everyone in the home tested if one person tests positive. Here’s a post about what to expect – and what questions to ask – with blood Lead testing.
- You should get your home inspected, here’s a post about that.
- You should get your consumer goods inspected, here’s a post about that.
- It is important to understand how little Lead it takes to poison a child, here’s a good post to help give context to that.
- You might get push back from family and friends. They often say things like “well we turned out just fine”… and this is a good post to help you respond to those sorts of comments.
- Here’s a “what’s next” in terms of what to do with your home.
- Here’s a post discussing next steps once you have located the Lead hazards in your home: “I found Lead paint in my home. Now what?”
- This post discusses the different types of testing you might use (including the type of testing I report on on this blog.)
As always, please let me know if you have any questions. I will do my best to respond to you as soon as I can!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Hi Tamara
Thank you for your work. I’ve read almost every post on here after discovering our vintage plates contained lead. I would like to know more about the treatments your family have undergone and what you recommend. I would happily pay for a consultation (I’d like to donate to your work in any case). Please let me know how I can get in contact.
Thanks
Hello Odette!
I’m glad you found my blog. My e-mail is TamaraRubin@mac.com. I try to respond to everyone in a timely fashion but inquiries and requests for help (with the stay-at-home orders for CoViD-19) have increased significantly in recent months… so if you don’t hear back from me right away, please nudge me again in a few days.
Tamara
Hi Tamara, Thank you for all that you’ve done to educate the public and affected families about lead exposure! My daughter tested positive for lead at 7mg/dl, I’m due to give birth in a month and a half, and we are about to move into a hotel while they fix our apartment. I’m wondering what is the best way to go about ensuring that we don’t re-contaminate the apartment with lead filled things when we unbox our stuff. We are planning to wash dishes and clothes and do the clorox wipe technique you’ve shown on every possible thing we can, but there are some things I’m not sure about. Do you have any advice for getting lead out of many many books, exercise mats, and appliances? Do you think the clorox wipe technique on these items is sufficient before bagging them inside of a box? Thank you!