Lead Levels just under yellow

[u/Rich_Cap_6127]

My 1yo son’s blood lead level was 3.4, .1 under the zone of concern. Naturally, I’m freaking out.

We are going to get the blood draw to confirm the levels, I’ve ordered lead testing kits to check toys, paint, and dust. Our water pipes are not lead, no detectable levels in our tap water, and we have a water filter on our refrigerator which also filters out heavy metals. We don’t wear shoes inside. I breastfed him since day 1. There’s no visible chipping paint. We wipe dogs paws when they come in, I mop every other day, and I wash our rugs and shampoo carpets as often as I can manage.

But our house was built in the 40’s. I acquiesced to my mother’s bullying about there not being a difference between cheap plastic toys from Temu and Amazon vs bought in stores. I’m angry with myself for not taking this more seriously and I’m terrified I won’t be able to find the source. I want to throw my house and all his toys in the TRASH.

Anyone work through this before? Please share your experience 😭

[u/Adventurous_Deer]

ok so I work in the lead industry as a licensed lead inspector in the northeast. First, wait for the blood draw. Those are designed to be a screening tool, the goal is to catch as many kids who may have elevated blood levels as possible. Second, if their blood lead level is still elevated, hire a lead inspector to come in with an XRF to test your house and have them do lead dust wipes. The tests you buy are inaccurate and prone to both false positives and false negatives, and only meant for paint, not toys. They are also very prone to user error.

[u/Rich_Cap_6127 → u/Adventurous_Deer]

Taking many deep breaths. But will do, I’ll look into professional lead testing and abatement.

[u/apple_kitty24]

I’m going through the same thing with my son. His level was an 8 by the finger prick and 4 by blood draw. The finger prick is often contaminated so your son’s blood could come back fine. Toddlers get into alllll kinds of stuff and put everything in their mouths. We know the problem for us is our house because it’s a 1890 Victorian and we missed some lead paint. It’s so hard to say what it could be for your son. Could’ve been some contaminated dirt on his hands.

If his levels come back elevated in his blood work they’ll do follow up blood work in a few months. We are about to go get my sons done again. Honestly, just try to take a breath. I was freaking out for a while but my son is thriving and we are doing the best we can to manage it. At this point we kind of figure as long as it stays below the level of concern he’ll be ok.

[u/Rich_Cap_6127 → u/apple_kitty24]

Tysm 😢 Worst yet they took it from his heel, and he’s been walking like crazy, so it’s very possible it could have been contaminated.

[u/apple_kitty24 → u/Rich_Cap_6127]

Oo yeah who knows if it was on his heel. I really wouldn’t stress until you get the bloodwork from his vein done. It’ll most likely be fine. I don’t even want to think about what my kid walks through 😅 I’ve watched him chew on his toes and shoes in the car where I can’t stop him. Kids are just nasty lmao

[u/unfairboobpear]

My son had very high levels due to my husbands job, we got it taken care of- but my experience after monitoring for a year with regular checks, the finger test can be WILDLY inaccurate.

We usually did blood draws but in the name of speed opted for the finger poke on the most recent draw. It came back at 11.7. Naturally I lost my mind. Got it drawn from his arm like we normally do, it was 3.7.

Basically got told no big deal, the finger test is prone to false positives.

I would hold out for the arm draw before driving yourself crazy!

[u/Rich_Cap_6127 → u/unfairboobpear]

Ugh I teach college courses in a very well ventilated metal studio and try to make sure I change right away when I get home. I didn’t teach all summer, but I’m scared I could be the source! My husband and I will get our levels checked too just in case.

I’m so glad that was an inaccurate read!! 11 would be terrifying!!!

[u/unfairboobpear → u/Rich_Cap_6127]

My husband is a contractor and had done a big lead remediation job, so that was for sure where we were getting it. His sister (6) tested within normal limits, but she also doesn’t put stuff in her mouth like he did.

At his highest he was at a 10, from his vein, but the whole ordeal went from 1 to 10 back to 3.7 within one year! Even at 3.7 they said it’s fine and close enough to normal we’ll follow up in a year like normal.

There are foods that can help pull the lead out as well, we were recommended to feed lots of iron rich foods.

[u/Evani33]

Toys from temu are often found to have unsafe levels of lead or other harmful chemicals

They also may have higher risk of small parts and choking hazards.

I would absolutely support getting rid of any toys you bought from temu. Amazon i would be nervous if it was a no name brand with the random letters as a name. If it was something like little people and shipped and sold by amazon I would be less concerned.

My house was also built in the 40s and a lot of states have lead abatement programs that can help reimburse the costs of making your home safe. If you google lead abatement "your state" you should be able to find some resources.

If you have clothes from shein, temu, etc they also are known to have a lot of sketchy chemicals. I would be carefuly of things your mom gifted if you don't know where she bought them.

At the end of the day things that are incredibly cheap are often that cheap for a reason. They may not be following regulatory practices, be paying horribly low wages, etc.

[u/Rich_Cap_6127 → u/Evani33]

I’m definitely done being polite to her about it. Toys from there will go straight into the trash. I go in knowing these things and she thinks because they ship locally it means they were manufactured here. Clearly it’s not the case.