The Lead Safe University Curriculum
Short, actionable pages. Each one gives you 3 concrete things to do in 15 minutes, backed by the best data we have, that move the needle more than 15 hours of reading full guides. Start at the top.
Screen your environment, closest to farthest
5 zones01 · The stuff in your house
Decorated dishes, vintage Pyrex, glazed pottery, thrifted toys and costume jewelry. Test what they eat off and mouth.
02 · Your house
Painted windowsills, trim, doors and old radiators in any pre-1978 room. The paint dust on the floor is the real exposure.
03 · Outside your house
Exterior paint on porches, railings, fences and old playsets. Screen the paint. The soil itself needs a lab test.
04 · Your work and hobbies
The take-home one. Lead rides in on boots, clothes and the car from the range, the studio or the job site, then becomes house dust.
05 · Other places you and the kids go
Grandma's dishes and windowsills, daycare, rentals, antique shops. Screen any hand-me-down before a kid gets it.
Take them in order, one a day, in your inbox.
The full Easy Wins series delivered over the next ~3 weeks. Start with Dishes (biggest single-surface lead vector for most families), walk through the diet topics, finish with the around-the-house deep dive. One email a day, no noise, unsubscribe anytime.
The main course, food, drink, daily habits
01 · The four metals, honestly ranked.
Why cadmium matters more than lead in food. Why mercury is overrated for most families. What the FDA IRL actually means in µg/day.
02 · Your salt is not the problem.
Every US salt tests for lead. Pink Himalayan is dirtier than generic Walmart. Buy the cheapest iodized. Filter your water instead.
03 · The grown-in-America rule.
Imported spices dominate the lead hits. If the country of origin isn’t printed, assume it’s not the US. Which store-bought lines are cleanest.
04 · Skip “mineral” toothpaste.
“Remineralizing” and “clay-based” toothpastes run up to 7,800 ppm Pb. Conventional fluoride paste from the drugstore is the boring, clean choice.
05 · Gummies, chewables, tooth health.
Which brands test cleanest. Why Hiya, Lifetree, and USP-verified lines pencil out ahead of the targeted ad brands.
06 · Skip calcium carbonate.
Mined calcium is limestone; limestone carries lead. USP-verified + calcium citrate only. Cuts most of the vitamin-lead story in half.
07 · Greens powders, protein, collagen.
Plant-based protein powders accumulate soil lead 10-50× whey protein. What Consumer Reports found. What I found. What to actually buy.
08 · Does organic mean lower lead?
Short answer: no. Organic rules what’s sprayed on top, not what’s in the soil underneath. Here’s when organic matters, and when it doesn’t.
09 · The cleanest 10 vs. the worst 10.
Summary of the 18,124-lot study. Once Upon a Farm, Serenity, Little Spoon, Amara clean. Beech-Nut, Plum, Gerber the opposite end.
10 · It’s not the brand. It’s the ingredient.
The same five crops show up across every brand that failed. Rice. Sweet potato. Amaranth. Sunflower seed. Fig. Summary of the ingredient breakdown.
8 more lessons
Round 2, lifestyle & personal care
Secondary priority11 · Zinc oxide, not “mineral complex.”
Clay-based mineral sunscreens can carry lead. Read the active-ingredient list, not the marketing. Full guide → here.
12 · Sidewalk chalk + art supplies.
Cheap imported chalk, imported crayons, and some modeling clays test positive. Crayola passes. Dollar-store lines often don’t.
13 · Bare dirt within 15 feet of the house.
Leaded gasoline + historic exterior paint both accumulate there. Mulch, grass, or a raised bed with imported soil.
14 · How to test without starting a fight.
Pre-1978 home + their grandkid visiting. Bring a drip bottle. Test one thing discreetly. Tactful scripts for in-laws and your own parents.
15 · The water fountain flush.
Don’t drink the first 5 seconds. Frame it as “good luck before a test” so the kid actually does it. Water-cooler checks, lunchbox dishes, art-room clay.
16 · Lotions, diaper rash, “natural” balms.
Zinc oxide pastes are fine. Clay-based “healing” balms and some kohl-influenced imported products aren’t.
17 · Wash new clothes once before kids wear them.
Some fast-fashion cotton tested positive for lead in dye and finishing agents. The type that washes out. One warm-wash cycle before first wear.
18 · Rubber-soled kids’ shoes & cork.
Hard rubber and cork-soled children’s shoes have tested positive repeatedly, especially imported. A handful of examples, plus safer alternatives.
Around the house, the home-age deep dive.
Lead in your home is the biggest single exposure source for American children. This section is long on purpose, timelines, regulations, testable surfaces, recall database, and the one quiz that matters most: how old is your house, really.
- In-depth home-age quiz (paint, pipes, soil, year-by-year)
- Lead paint timeline (1978 ban, 2008 CPSIA, 2021 proposed action levels)
- Water timeline (1986 solder ban, LCR, LCRI, Amazon spigot recalls)
- Toys & decorated metal / glass (Stanley wheelbarrow recall pattern)
- Plastic vs. painted vs. baked enamel, which ones glow
- The "run the water 30 seconds" rule + brass-component testing
Each Easy Win ends with the FluoroSpec lotto spin. 1 spin per day per article. 1 in 1,000 wins a free kit. Mechanic ships with page #01 build-out.