Healthy Building Science is pleased to announce that we now have an XRF lead testing gun in house for detecting lead in painted wood and lead in plastic toys: the Heurosis pb200i. The XRF analyzer provides lead testing solutions for household painted wood or plastic items as well as toys marketed toward teenagers such as

Dust and Smoke From Fires Far more people have been impacted by dust and smoke than fires themselves. If you were directly impacted by fires you should read Cleaning After Fire. For others in the region who have been more directly impacted by dust and smoke from fires, please consider these tips to minimize health

Classes of Toxic Substances There are many different ways to organize contaminants. We often rely on their physical form (e.g., liquid, vapor, solid, energetic, etc.), size (e.g., nano-particle, respirable, micro, etc.), or larger classifications (e.g., biological, mineral, etc.)  The Green Science Policy Institute coordinated a number of organizations (see below) to prioritize toxic chemicals and dumb it down to six

Mercury Spills in Our Homes Accidental Release and Clean-up of Small Quantities of ( less than 3 grams) Mercury is a unique metal and has some rather amazing properties. It’s the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature. It was originally described as “silver water” in ancient Greece. Because it is both a

Lead is a natural elemental metal that has many uses and has been used through antiquity. Though it has many uses it is extremely toxic to humans and as such, has been regulated by government agencies throughout the world. Awareness is growing, but people are still exposed to lead. Lead: an introduction to help you

Recently I was helping a client select ceramic tiles in her new home, and my initial instinct was to approve all the tiles as “healthy” without much research into their contents. I couldn’t imagine there would be any toxicity issues with lead in ceramics. Wasn’t Lead Banned in Ceramics Along with Paints? After reading that one

Every building inspection should include a minimum scan for these Top-10 common environmental problems. These factors are simple to evaluate, often only involving using your nose and eyes, and can literally save lives. This building inspector environmental checklist is adapted from the Building Biologist’s Healthy Home Standard. There is no reason every home inspector cannot

What does “100% Lead Free” really mean? What it lead-free ? The EPA’s lead rule sets an action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) and they estimate that more than 40 million U.S. residents use water “that can contain lead in excess of 15 ppb. If tests show that the level of lead drinking

First, I feel as though I must apologize for not writing more often. In an effort to make it more of a habit I’ve decided to simply write a quick post about pages from our website to share more about the services and reveal relevant stories. I’m starting with soil testing for heavy metals, pesticides and