Lead paint has been in the news of late. It has been in the news in America, that is. And even though I live in China, most of my sources of information originate in the USA. That means I have been thinking a lot about lead.
China does not have laws outlawing lead in toys, or in house paint, or in anything at all. I refrained from writing about this issue earlier even though it represented an intersection of things I care about (China, children, health, toys) because I was so freaked out. I didn’t want to think about the possibility that my daughter was living in an all-lead environment. It was too scary.
Lead could be on the walls. Lead could be in the water. Lead could be (gasp!) on her crib.
A couple of weeks ago this all came pouring out. I told Josh I wanted to get rid of the baby’s crib and get her a new one. The crib we have was among the most expensive we could find in the chi-chi baby stores of Qingdao. We chose it because it was so sturdy. At the time I didn’t think about the fact that it was painted white. Now all I could see was the white paint. It represented danger.
At first Josh tried to talk me down from this wave of motherly paranoia.
“There is always going to be something that makes you scared. Now it is lead paint. In a few years it will be drinking and drugs and sex. You are going to have to calm down about all of it.”
This was not an effective argument. “Josh, we are talking about brain damage!”
I wanted to throw it away. Josh suggested we give it to someone else.
“Give some other child a crib painted with lead paint! What kind of monster do you think I am!”
At this point, Josh reminded me that we didn’t know whether or not the crib had lead paint. We made an assumption because this is China, but wasn’t that just a way of extrapohating applied to furniture? Before doing anything else, we should get the crib tested.
The next day I called Sonya, a Chinese friend who has two small children. I asked her if she knew of any store in Qingdao that sold lead paint test kits. She didn’t. Then I called Artemis’ great pediatrician, Dr. Ma. Dr. Ma didn’t know where to get the kits but she offered to call a few hardware stores to find out.
The search was fruitless. You can’t buy lead paint test kits in Qingdao. You can buy a service to test for lead paint in your home, along with lots of other toxics, but they don’t do furniture.
Luckily, we live in an age where you can get anything you want delivered anywhere you want if you have an internet connection an a credit card. I ordered a pack of testing swabs, sent them to my parents and asked my parents to send them to me. Ten days later, we were ready to test.
Josh admitted he felt 95% sure the crib was painted with lead paint before scraping a strip down to the wood in a small strip at the front of the crib. We wiped the testing swab over the strip and waited to see red.
Nothing happened.
It’s not lead paint!
Let this be a lesson to us all: China may not have the same consumer protection laws that exist in America but it is not an all-lead environment. At least not when you shop at the chi-chi stores.
4 Comments
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I’ve got a bit of the same fear going about BPH-A plastics. It’s everywhere. All the water or food I ingest has come into contact with plastics. I’ve started trying to avoid it, but I can’t say my efforts are rational or effective. I’d like more info on the potential dangers, but what I’ve read just isn’t conclusive. The best I can do is get almost superstitious about it. I think I know what the “bad” plastic look and what it’s used for, so I avoid it when I can.
Your lead test is much better, and I’m so happy to hear the good conclusion. Do you know what lead is used for? Is it a preservative? Brighter colors? Any rules for avoiding it?
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Mom-101, my favorite mommyblog, has written a lot about BPH-A plastics in baby bottles. I think she ended up going with the Adiri bottle (they call it a “nurser” instead of “bottle”) because it doesn’t leach toxins. Personally, I am not worried about the BPH-A. I think it is all paranoia fueled by my former employer who will here go unnamed.
Lead is used in paint because it is cheap and because it gives paint a nice glossy finish. As you know, it could also be in the pipes that deliver the water to your home. The most common source is still paint dust.
My pediatrician said that lead poisoning happens most frequently when children are between the ages of one and three. They are mobile, so they can get into stuff, and they want to put everything in their mouths. The best way to avoid it is with frequent and thorough hand washing.
I also plan to get Artemis tested frequently, especially as long as we are living in China.
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I totally think about this stuff all the time… except I have more extensive worries. I worry about the water. I worry about any food that is preserved… canned corn, beans, cookies etc. I worry about dried fruits… I worry about my son’s toys. He puts them in his mouth all the time! I worry about the milk… hormones and all. In fact, I was thinking of writing a blog post about it all. It seems, as the children grow older and expand their activities and food requirements, there are more and more things to think about.
I am so glad to hear about the lead test kits. I am going to get some myself. It is nice to take things into your hands like that …. Thanks for the info.
Also, glad to hear that you had a baby here and it all went well. I have not even started to seriously think about that!
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I’m glad to hear that you are leadless, at least in your crib! What a relief! And having those swabs will probably make a huge difference in your sanity. At least you will know. (I can just see you shopping for baby toys and secretly scratching them and applying the swab before buying it!)
We live in a pre-war apt here in Brooklyn and we know that the paint chipping off the baseboard MUST have lead paint in it. Our plan is to scrape off what’s chipping and repaint it before we start having kids. I hope this will be enough… Christopher seems to think we need to pull all the molding off and replace it, an idea which terrifies me.