I'm fixing up my family's house and I am concerned that the paint on the windows contains lead, I remember testing another window and it the kit gave a weird result, it didn't come back as fully detecting the presence of lead but the tip had very slight discoloration as if it did potentially contain lead. The house was build in 1945 so I think theres a decent probabilty. The paint is old and leaving small flakes and I'm concerned about lead dust or flake exposure if wind blows it into the room. What should I do?

>>2928583 (OP)
Lick it, if it's bitter-sour it's lead

It's safe, just use use basic protection (mask + shield, gloves, clothing with long sleeves that you will wash immediately after), and if you have, some sort of vacuum to catch dust as you scrape it, and it's infinitely more safe than leaded petrol that probably already did 99% of brain damage you were ever going to experience in your life.

>>2928583 (OP)
Ok so don't eat it

lead paint is not safe if its deteriorating all over the place.
A vacuum potentially just blows lead particles all over out the exhaust unless its a fancy hepa filter one. Wet practices only, no power tools if you want to do things according to the book. but doing things according to the book is too complicated to explain, theres a lot of steps

that looks like a much newer window with one thick coat of latex paint thats very deteriorated. No way that wood frame is from 45 with only one visible coat of paint.

lead paint generally adheres pretty well and stays where it is, thats why we added it but friction points on window and door frames and the carpet below are where you do find it. Its a heavy metal that will be there till removed, its best kept where it is under a layer of paint.
test strips are a good idea.
that window doesnt feel original to me; post 78 you dont have to worry
> t. epa + hud certified renovator

>>2928583 (OP)
either paint over it to seal it in or remove it
if you remove it, just treat it like any other demo, wear a good mask and make sure the place is properly vented with a fan. the only danger, just like aspestos, is repeated exposure of a long period of time. everything else is fear mongering

>>2928583 (OP)
How old are you? Past a certain age, lead dust is not necessarily a bad thing.

>>2928932
They could be new with latex paint as you're saying. I tested the windows upstairs and the kit gave me some strange middle ground result. It was supposed to turn red to indicate lead, but it turned very slightly pinkish. 2 kits have confirmed this. If the window is newer that's fine. I am also concerned about the blue radiator which is showing the same type of chipping.
>>2928961
>Past a certain age, lead dust is not necessarily a bad thing.
ehhhh, I'll wouldn't test my luck on that

>>2929656
the radiators look old as fuck too, so they could be an actual danger. I'll need to recheck all this at some point

>>2929656

ignore the moron saying its not bad for you. retards will write anything on the internet. it is, very small amounts can make you sick, long term exposure takes over the entire body, and like lyme, can present as basically everything and nothing all at once. once in your body, it does not go away.
that aside, the radiator, yes. way more likely than the windows.

as far as the lead tests, Red means Lead.
I think you are being paranoid with your analysis of the strips, but I didnt see them. test the radiator, make sure to cut through ALL layers of paint for your test.

Only a third to half of old buildings have lead paint in them anyway, according to the ppl who educate on this stuff anyway.

that peely peely paint tho? that's latex. the whole reason lead was put in paint was because it made it very smooth but malleable still, like, the least likely paint to peel, ever. its got heavy metal in it. latex is nothing.

>>2928583 (OP)
>I remember testing another window and it the kit gave a weird result
God, just strip the fucking paint off. How can you obsess so much? Guess what: you already breathed in all your "lead dust". If you want to question the health dangers of every flake of paint, every nail and every bead of glue (they had glue with asbestos in it) you should have maybe built a new house instead of buying something like this. That reminds me of a workmate who was an avid smoker (closes to two packs a day) who died of lung cancer withing a year or so. He came to visit us one day some weeks before he died to catch up and then started speculating how that one time he helped his dad remove the asbestos tiles from the roof was what gave him the lung cancer.

>>2931909

you dont know shit about paint, leaded or otherwise.

if the paint had lead in it, and hasnt deteriorated, it is still there and always will be. a heavy metal is not going to become dust on its own. it very well could be if you just go at it like you describe

your post displays a huge knowledge gap on your end
we used to say lurk moar, years ago.

>>2929684
Malleability was 1 reason they started using lead in paint. There were several others.

Lurk moar.

OP dont do what I did and try to sand porch railings with a dremel. Pretty sure I was sanding off decades of lead paint with improper protection. That was in 2018. I've never really felt the same since then

>>2932210
A blood test looking for lead levels is cheap. If it really was lead it would probably still show up. If it comes back negative for lead you feel different for other reasons.