Lead is a health hazard found in older Sioux City homes

If you decide to update your home, Sanders recommends taking all the precautions that you can during the renovation process.

"I get a lot of people who ask me, 'Is lead-based paint still a problem?'" she said. "As long as we still have homes that were built before 1978, lead-based paint will still be an issue in our area."

A coat of lead-based paint on a wall, if it's in good condition, is OK. It's when that paint begins to deteriorate that it poses a health hazard.

Michelle Clausen Rosendahl, director of environmental health for Siouxland District Health Department, said it's not uncommon for children to develop lead poisoning by ingesting lead dust that has built up on surfaces or eating sweet tasting lead paint chips that peel from windowsills and frames. The majority of poisonings are chronic in nature, occurring over a long period of time.

"There are kids who will pick at deteriorating paint and put the chips in their mouth, but more kids are actually found to be lead poisoned because of the dust that just builds up in the environment," she said. "If you've got a surface like a door in a door frame or a window in a window frame, where surfaces are rubbing against each other, then that dust just builds up in the house and gets on hands and toys and other surfaces that end up in a child's mouth."

Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems. Exposure can affect a young child's physical and mental development, and at very high levels, lead can cause kidney problems, anemia, coma and even death. Many lead-poisoned adults don't have any symptoms. Adults are more likely to have the following symptoms if their lead levels are high for a long time: trouble remembering and concentrating, unable to sleep, weakness or loss of feeling in their arms and legs, headaches, irritability, depression or high blood pressure.

Sanders said most cases of lead poisoning aren't detected until children start school. In children, excitability, inability to sit still and stomach aches are recognizable symptoms of lead poisoning, which can also negatively affect IQ.

In Iowa, if a child has a blood lead level of 20 micrograms per deciliter or higher, or two blood lead levels of 15 to 19 micrograms per deciliter, then the local health or housing agency or the state health department will come to the home to conduct an environmental inspection.

Clausen Rosendahl said environmental specialists use a handheld XRF (X-ray fluorescence) machine, which somewhat resembles a handgun, to detect lead in homes under multiple layers of paint. 

"It shoots out radiation. If there's lead in the paint, it will bounce the radiation back," she said. "The amount that bounces back is measured and that will tell how much lead is in the paint."

Sanders said families can continue to reside in a home that has lead paint, but she said they'll want to take some precautions when cleaning before lead abatement begins. She advises cleaning walls with a spray bottle and wash cloth and then using a wet mop or vacuum with a HEPA filter to remove any lead dust that may have fallen to the floor.

"Don't panic. You can live in an older home, but you do want to take those precautions," she said. "Lead paint isn't an issue unless it's deteriorating."

Siouxland District Health Department environmental specialists urge landlords and homeowners to hire contractors who are trained and certified in the removal of lead-based paint. While anyone can legally remove lead from their own home, contractors must know how to safely eliminate this health hazard.

Before beginning work involving lead paint inside or outside the home, Clausen Rosendahl said plastic sheeting should be placed on the ground to collect lead paint chips that might fall. She said the room where the lead is being removed should be sealed off from others rooms in the house with plastic to contain lead dust.

Don't use heat guns to remove lead paint, because high temperatures will make the lead volatile, according to Clausen Rosendahl. Lead-based paint shouldn't be scraped or sanded while dry, either. Clausen Rosendahl advises spraying the surface with water before scraping so that the paint chips stick together. 

"Then there's also the worker protecting themselves from lead paint. It kind of depends on what they're actually doing, but there are respirators that are recommended," she said. "Your clothes might be contaminated, so then be careful. Don't go home and pick up your child or go sit on the furniture. You want to make sure you change out of those clothes and take a shower. We recommend laundering your clothes separately to help protect your family and the people that you're around."