About half a year ago, I stayed in a cheap hotel in India for about a week; for almost the entire time I was there, they were scraping the paint off the walls and painting some on. There were large amounts of powder everywhere and a very strong smell. The walls of the hotel rooms did not go all the way up to the ceiling, so the smell was strong even in the rooms; I tried to sleep with a bandana over my mouth whenever possible, but probably didn’t most of the time. Even after returning to the US, many of my clothes smelled strongly of paint before being washed properly. It occurred to me that the paint used there may well have been leaden; am I at risk for lead poisoning exposure? I do feel less mentally sharp recently, but that may be psychosomatic.
I doubt you’ll be able to get a very exact answer, since there’s no way anyone’s going to be able to estimate very closely what your actual exposure was - if any.
If you have any of the powder you mention around you could get it analysed for lead, but in general I would feel a week’s intermittent exposure to old lead paint would be very very unlikely to cause you any noticeable harm.
Agreed.
Unless you’re from California. In which case, you’re probably going to be retarded, cancer-ridden and most likely dead. It must be true, because the CA legislature says so.
Agree with the others. The biggest danger from lead paint was of young children finding an area where the paint was peeling off, and eating chips of the paint. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
Children are much more sensitive to lead than adults. However, adults can and do get lead doses sufficient to cause problems. As usual Wikipedia has a pretty good article. If you’re concerned about your exposure, you can get a blood lead level test which will require a doctor visit. The treatment is EDTA, a chelating agent which allows your body to eliminate heavy metals.
Did it taste sweet? Lead paint tastes sweet.
The easiest way to put your mind at ease is to get tested. I’d guess your insurance would cover it, if you explained the situation to your doctor, and he/she thought the test was reasonable. It’s not really a very special test – every kid gets several – so it should be no problem for the doctor to do it.
Were they scraping and/or sanding while you were sleeping? I doubt you had a significant exposure. If you did inhale lead you’ve probably got rid of most it by now anyway.
Here’s a link to more than yu want to know.
When I was a kid I used to do a lot of air-rifle shooting. I sometimes used to shoot at targets from inside my bedroom, and noticed a lot of (presumably) lead “smoke” trickling from the barrel of the rifle. I reckon I must have inhaled a lot of lead from that and (as far as I know) it hasn’t addled my brain. Then again, maybe I should get one of those tests…?
During the whole lead-paint on toys scare I had my son tested since he had gnawed some of the paint off of recalled toys.
Super easy fast test. They got a blood sample by pricking his heel and had the test results before we left the office. Negative.
Many years ago I worked at a lead smelting plant in Dallas. While we were required to wear various forms of PPE, I really felt suffocated by the filter mask and tended to wear it loosely. My monthly lead level blood tests would rise until it threatened to send me home and then I’d wear it tight for awhile. I could pretty much predict my blood test results by the way I felt as high lead levels can make you feel a bit tired. Bottom line is that, for adults, lead doesn’t pose much of a problem and your body can easily dispose of it - it just take some time. No long-term effects on me that I can tell.
Why would you presume the smoke was lead?
I think after six months, any accute lead poisoning you would have been subjected to would already be producing symptoms. Lead is a cumulative poison, and any short term exposure is not likely to be problematic. Long term exposure would cause problems though. Extremely heavy short term exposure would be problematic, but you would probably notice the symptoms quickly.