● Free lead-test kits · Dayton & Montgomery County
Find the lead in your Dayton home before it finds your kid.
A free Fluoro-Spec lead-test kit, made to put in families' hands. Spray a surface, shine the light, and any lead paint glows bright green in seconds. No lab, no swabs, no waiting.
70%of Montgomery County homes predate the 1978 lead-paint ban
1938median build year in the oldest Dayton ZIPs
~500tests in every bottle
Why Dayton, specifically
Old housing is where lead lives. Dayton has a lot of it.
Lead paint was banned in 1978, but it does not leave on its own. It sits under newer coats on windows, doors, sills and porches, and it turns to dust every time those surfaces rub or get scraped. Across Montgomery County, about 7 in 10 homes were built before the ban. In the oldest parts of the city the numbers are starker. These are the ZIPs where a free test in a parent's hands finds the most lead the fastest.
Dayton-area lead risk, by ZIP
Scored 0–100 on the age of the housing and the share of families in poverty. Higher means more homes likely to hold lead paint.
Source: DetectLead national housing-age model (U.S. Census vintage + poverty), Montgomery County OH. A single address gives a sharper read below.
What's in the kit
Four pieces. Anyone can use it.
The test spray
Spray it on paint, dust, a dish, a toy, a windowsill. About 500 tests per bottle.
The extender ring
Slides in under the cap and cuts the liquid per spray. That takes a bottle from about 170 tests to around 500.
The rechargeable UV light
Shine it on the sprayed spot in low light and watch for green.
The reference card
Shows you the exact green a positive glows. If your spot matches, that's lead.
How it works
Spray it. Light it. If it glows green, it's lead.
1
Spray the surface
Paint, settled dust, a windowsill, a plate, a painted toy. The liquid is a clear, thin alcohol.
2
Shine the UV light
In low light, point the light at the sprayed spot. Do it while it's still wet for the best read.
3
Watch for the glow
Green glow = lead. White ceramic and clean surfaces stay dark. Lead is not naturally green.
A glow, or the absence of one, is a fast field read, not a lab result. It finds the likely lead first, so limited inspector and lab time goes where it is needed, and it is handy for re-checking a surface after interim control work. More on how it compares to the RRP cleaning card.
Check your neighborhood
Enter your ZIP. See how likely lead is where you live.
Type your Dayton-area ZIP code. We read the age of the housing across your neighborhood and give you a lead-risk score, plus what it means for a home like yours.
Free printable handouts
Handouts to print, post, and hand out.
One-page lead-safety guides, ready to print or drop into your own outreach. Free to use.
Get kits + handouts
Free kits, handouts, and help for your program.
For the City of Dayton and Montgomery County lead hazard reduction program: kits your inspectors and outreach staff can put directly in families' hands, plus printable handouts. I can also help map where the oldest housing sits and find the local WIC offices and prenatal providers serving Medicaid families, at no cost, so the kits reach the highest-risk homes first.
Fluoro-Spec · Eric Ritter
Free kits and printable handouts for lead programs
eric@fluorospect.com · 631-461-1838
Fluoro-Spec is a fast field screen that makes lead visible. It is not an EPA-recognized test kit and does not replace XRF or lab dust-wipe clearance where those are legally required. Made under EPA TSCA Low Volume Exemption L-25-0206. · detectlead.com · eric@detectlead.com
Part of the DetectLead lead-risk network. See every local program and the national lead-risk map →