About 1 in 11 children in the U.S. have high levels of lead in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You may have lead around your building without knowing it because you can't see, taste, or smell lead.

Before we knew how harmful it could be, lead was used in paint, gasoline, water pipes, and many other products. Now that we know the dangers of lead, house paint is almost lead-free, leaded gasoline is being phased out, and household plumbing is no longer made with lead materials. Because it does not break down naturally, lead can remain a problem until it is removed.

Lead poisoning can have long term effects on children: learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity, impaired hearing, and even brain damage. If caught early, these effects can be limited by reducing exposure to lead or by medical treatment.

If you are pregnant, avoid exposing yourself to lead. Lead can pass through your body to your baby.

Keep the areas where your children play as dust-free and clean as possible. Ordinary dust and dirt may contain lead. Children can swallow lead or breathe lead contaminated dust if they play in dust or dirt and then put their fingers or toys in their mouths, or if they eat without washing their hands first.

Wash pacifiers and bottles after they fall on the floor. Keep extras handy.
Mop floors and wipe window ledges and chewable surfaces such as cribs with soap and warm water twice a week.
Wash toys and stuffed animals regularly.
Make sure your children wash their hands before meals, nap time, and bed time.

Reduce the risk from lead paint. Most homes built before 1960 contain heavily leaded paint. Some homes built as recently as 1978 may also contain lead paint. This paint could be on window frames, walls, the outside of your house, or other surfaces. Tiny pieces of peeling or chipping lead paint are dangerous if eaten. Lead paint in good condition is not usually a problem except in places where painted surfaces rub against each other and create dust. (For example, when you open a window, the painted surfaces rub against each other).

Make sure your child does not chew on anything covered with lead paint, such as painted window sills, cribs, or playpens.
Don't burn painted wood. It may contain lead.
Don't remove lead paint yourself. Families have been poisoned by scraping or sanding lead paint because these activities generate large amounts of lead dust.

Lead dust from repairs or renovations of older buildings can remain in the building long after the work is completed. Heating lead paint may release lead into the air. Ask your local or state health department if they will test your home for lead paint. Some will test for free.

Hire a person with special training for correcting lead paint problems to remove lead paint from your home, someone who knows how to do this work safely and has the proper equipment to clean up thoroughly. Don't try to remove lead paint yourself.
All occupants, especially children and pregnant women, should leave the building until all work is finished and a thorough cleanup is done.

Don't bring lead dust into your home. If you work in construction, demolition or painting, with batteries, or in a radiator repair shop or lead factory, or if your hobby involves lead, you may unknowingly bring lead into your home on your hands or clothes. You may also be tracking in lead from the soil around your home. Soil very close to homes may be contaminated from lead paint on the outside of the building. Soil by roads or highways may be contaminated from years of exhaust fumes from cars and trucks that used leaded gas.

If you work with lead in your job or hobby, change your clothes before you go home.
Encourage your children to play in sand or grassy areas instead of dirt which sticks to fingers and toys. Try to keep your children from eating dirt, and make sure they wash their hands when they come inside.

Eat right. A child who gets enough iron and calcium will absorb less lead. Foods rich in iron include eggs, lean red meat, and beans. Dairy products are high in calcium.

Don't store food or liquid in lead crystal glassware or imported or old pottery.
If you reuse plastic bags to store or carry food, keep the printing on the outside of the bag.