I‘d be very concerned. What do you plan to do with windows? How about the rest of the house? In a perfect world you take care of all lead hazzards safely before you become pregant and have kids assuming having kids the the old fashioned way.

Taking a RRP class would be great idea especially if you are doing any of the work yourself.

If the paint isn't flaking or is repainted with non lead paint they are very little danger. Most lead poisoning is from ingestion.

I agree with Jason Mallard. We bought our old house which had the standard lead disclosure. Use common sense on what surfaces you encounter and mitigate your risk. I use a vacuum with a filter to suck up paint chips, then wipe with a damp disposable cloth. This is the preferred method instead of licking things to clean them.

With proper precautions and monitoring by my Dr, I continued to work on the house when pregnant and breastfeeding. Neither I nor my kids have shown high lead levels.

Mallard is a bit wrong. Having lead based paint on windows does not mean its gonna be on the door, trim or walls. It does not even mean it will be on interior side if the window. Kids being poisoned from chewing on the window itself would be a very rare occurrence . Children dont typically get poisoned by sticking the nose on door sills, snorting window troughs. chewing walls. Chewing a window stool is something a bit more common. The dust created by opening and closing windows is a common sourse. Children merely need to be crawling on the floor and hand to mouth contact does the rest. Children dont have to snort the window trough either, this mist commo hand to mouth as well and you are more likely to see chips here. working around lead and working with it 2 different things. The levels required for adult to be poisoned

and child or a pregant woman are 2 different things.

My guess Katz was not scraping down windows nor knew what she was working with was lead or not. I’m not sure what ” neither I nor my kids have shown high lead levels ” means. As many of us know , there is no safe level.

I totally disagree Todd. If you have lead paint on your windows you most certainly have them on your walls, floors, and doors unless they are brand new. Most children who get lead poisoning lived in low income public housing. Replacing windows with lead paint isnt going to give you lead poisoning unless you are standing directly in the area and inhaling any paint chips. Unless someone has a strange paint chip addiction I dont see that happening.

A one or two day replacement window install is absolutely nothing to worry about in my opinion.

After World War 2 ( 1945 ) lead paint started to really get phased out due to its high cost. Only very expensive homes used it after that time period and it was mainly only used on the home’s exterior, not interior. The further away from 1945 you are, the less likely you had lead paint even though it was officially banned in 1978. My home was built in 1957 and I have no lead paint anywhere.

Lead on the window does not mean it is also on the interior surfaces.

Only way to know for sure is to get a survey done and have a professional with an XRF gun come through and indicate all the surfaces that are lead positive.

You have two options when it comes to lead; encapsulation (not a great option on the operable components of windows) and abatement.

First step, regardless, is to figure out what substrates actually do have lead.

Encapsulation is an actually an abatement method according to HUD and not used on friction surfaces not mention other complications using encapsulation.

There are 4 options for lead under ”abatement”.

Then you have options under intermin controls and the option if doing nothing

or combination of some or all.

There is more than one way to test for lead.

I have worked on many houses from the 50’s and 60’ and there is still lead used mire often than not. It is typically only found on exterior surfaces of the window components and in lower concentrations vs the decades before.

I don't trust all the test strips the same way I do an XRF in a qualified hand. Couple that with the report and you have all the information that you need and don't have to cut gashes in all your trim and walls.

The test strips are more proan to give false positives because of what is considered lead by HUD standards The XRF is more precise and allows things that contain lead to be classified as not lead bu HUD . There is fine line between what is lead by HUD standards and something that has lead in in it. I’s confusing and simple if you are familiar with it. The test stips are excelant at detecting lead in paint but are not that accurate at giving precise levels. To be clear ,you can you can have a certain level in your coatiings that have lead and are not considered lead bu HUD standards. This often comes into play when you get into coatings from the 50’s and 60’s and on occasion the 70’s.

@Hannah Williams, how old is the home? The older the home is, the liklier it is to contain lead paint, and potentially on more surfaces.

I'm not a fan of exaggerating the risks (not that anyone that has commented so far has), but you should also take this seriously. Todd offered a good explanation above of how kids typically ingest lead, and its not eating paint chips. Does any of this mean that your home has to be unsafe for you or your children, no, absolutely not. But to answer your original question, it is something that should be considered. The exterior side of window jambs and components are the most likely offenders.

Year of build can be important but so can location. If one was to look at an XRF report from Mpls. vs Duluth which is on lake Superior you would typically see a much higher concentration of lead in the paint and more frequently used on the interior. I would expect this to be the the same in coastal regions but am not sure.

Lead paint in old houses can be a problem. But, it is a problem that is often wildly exaggerated, as it has been here by some.

Assuming the windows have been painted with paint that contains lead, its not a problem unless (1) the paint becomes particularized and airborne or (2) the kids eat it.

Teaching children not to eat the windows has never been much of a challenge. But, if window-eating is a concern, then it's not the whole window that is the problem, just the stool.

Removing the old pain from just the stool is not a stringent challenge and well within the ability of most homeowners. Just remember to use plenty of plastic to protect walls, floors, etc. from the remover.

Window tracks should never be painted -- but for some reason we cannot convince painters of that fact. While it is true that operating a double-hung window sash that has been painted with lead paint can release micro-particles of lead into the air, we are talking about tiny, tiny, tiny amounts (unless the paint is already peeling) -- so tiny that it is doubtful they would ever arise to the level of a health hazard.

But, if it is a concern, you can reduce the risk by using Slide-Ease or a dab or two of floor wax to reduce friction. Reducing friction has the effect of (1) making the window easier to operate and (2) decreasing the amount of particulates produced to something less than tiny, tiny, tiny amounts.

Certain home health hazards are alarming, but this is not one of them. You alarmists should save your concerns for much more likely hazards -- being struck by a comet, form example.

Lead if often underestimated and followed up by bad advise, as it has been here by some.

One does not have to eat the window, but merely a chip that has dropped into the well. Stripping the stool can a bit labor intensive,once stripped it still is a place that dust can settle onto.

I’d consider silicone spray and floor wax temporary at best.

Small particles is all it takes, even really small ones. Teaching toddlers and kids not to eat windows may be simple, but teaching them not to crawl on the floor, put there hands in there mouths is a bit more tedious.

I agree 1000% ! The issue with lead paint on windows is GREATLY EXAGGERATED. A few paint chips can come from the baseboad trim, the door jamb, the steps, ect.. Tell the kids not to chew wood..lol

You're all greatly exaggerating the issue. My children were raised in a 1927 bungalow and then an 1898 farm Victorian. Guess what? The whole dang house in both houses had lead paint. My children are now adults at the ages of 29 and 33 and neither has lead in their systems. (Yes I had them tested years ago). Not only that, but both were honor students, etc.

A blood test is typically showing a very small snapshot in time unless we are talking about chronic exposure. A child that is tested in June could be poisened and tested again in August and not be poisoned. I’m happy your kids were honor students but that does not mean they were not poisoned. The advice and anologies being thrown around here is comical, sad and misinformed. You wanna advise Hanna she should not be concerned and take her childs health into consireation, that’s on you. As a professional in the industry to advise otherwise is on me .

I too think lead laint is greatly exaggerated. You certainly can have lead paint on old base board trim near the floor or interiors doors, stair rails. I’ve NEVER seen a window install that left a large amount of paint chips laying around. A simple clean up would take care of that. That said, I would not want a child hanging by the floor chewing paint chips; lead or otherwise. My entire home had lead paint and neither me, my wife, or any of our children have issues with lead in their blood. In theory its dangerous, no doubt, but in reality a parent should know not to let their kids chew paint on a daily basis. The further you get from 1945, the less chance there is lead paint on the interior.

This is also a personal decision couples make when choosing a home that may have lead. Buy a newer home !