Soil and dust in and around your home can contain lead, especially if you live near a busy street or a source of air-borne lead. These can include metal smelters and manufacturing plants that use lead. Airborne lead is only one source of lead in the soil and dust. Lead-based paint is a very frequent source of lead in soil and dust. Exterior paint contaminates the soil around the home and creates an area of high lead levels. This lead dust can also end up in bare areas of the yard. There is greater chance of contact with lead in the soil if there is not a good stand of grass or other ground cover. Paint can also create an extremely fine dust that settles on everything in the home. Lead dust is so fine that it can not be seen with the naked eye.

People come in contact with lead-contaminated soil and dust in a variety of ways. Children playing in the dust and dirt along roadways, breathing and eating soil from yard and along house foundation. Because children like to play in bare areas of the yard and along the house foundation, they can come in contact with the lead easily. Children can breathe the dust, eat the soil directly, or place in their mouths objects that have come in contact with contaminated soil. This can include hands, toys, plants, rocks, etc. Paint in the home can create a large amount of lead dust. High-contact areas such as window sills and frames, base-boards, door frames, and staircases pose an increased threat of exposure to lead dust in the home. Lead dust can also be carried into the home on clothing, shoes, toys, and vegetables grown in contaminated soil.

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