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Hi,

I have to admit. I am getting very nervous about lead. My wife took an interest in stained glass recently and we purchased 2 pieces from a store for some of our interior windows. They are hanging inside the home. We do have a 6 year old.

It is difficult to know how concerned to be. should I get rid of the pieces. Should I maybe lacquer the lead calme so that there is no dust?

I've also started making a piece of my own in the workshop downstairs...is this a no-no? how serious is this problem?

Thanks for your advice,
Shane

Dear Shane,

Most 6 year olds would not still have the behaviours which would make leadlights a lead risk but some do! If your home is old there may be other more serious sources of lead so the best thing to be sure would be to have your 6 year old son's blood tested for lead via the doctor. Hopefully he will have a very low result and this will ease your mind in relation to all the lead sources at home but if it's high - you'll know how high to jump to abate lead sources.

As lacquer rarely adheres to lead calmes for long, children can best be protected from leadlights by another layer of plain glass between the child and the leadlight ie usually on the inside of the window or the outside of a kitchen dresser door etc. Clear "Contact" could be used on the inside of a dresser door where aesthetics don't matter.

Lead lighting can be done safely in a separate workshop at home as long as the child has no access to the workspace. See two fact sheets on this subject at Beware The Lead In Leadlighting and Lead in Stained Glass

I hope this helps.

Yours Sincerely
Elizabeth O'Brien