Finding A Certified Lead Professional
You may want to have your home inspected by a licensed lead inspector. You can hire a professional to get it checked in one or both of the following ways:
- A paint inspection — Tells you the lead content of every different type of painted surface in your home, but does not tell you if the paint is a hazard or how to deal with it. This is most appropriate when you are buying a home or signing a lease, before you renovate, and to help you determine how to maintain your home for lead safety.
- A risk assessment — Tells you if there are any sources of serious lead exposure such as peeling paint and lead dust, and tells you what actions to take to address these hazards. This is most helpful if you want to know if lead is causing exposure to your family now.
Don’t remodel or renovate until you have learned about lead hazards in your home. Home repairs like sanding or scraping paint can make dangerous lead dust.
Any work to fix lead hazards needs to be done using lead-safe work practices. You may need to hire a certified lead professional to do the work. There is more information about renovation, repair and painting at https://www.epa.gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program-do-it-yourselfers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires individuals and firms who perform abatement projects in pre-1978 target housing and child-occupied facilities to be certified and follow specific work practices. Workers and firms performing RRP activities must also be trained and certified on lead-safe RRP practices. The state of Iowa is approved to manage these certification programs in the state.
Certified firms and lead professionals must provide services according to work practices outlined in state rules. Lead Professional Certification ensures that lead inspectors and/or risk assessors and visual risk assessors are properly trained and certified to identify lead hazards, and to assure that lead hazards have been remediated. Certification also ensures that lead abatement contractors, lead abatement workers and lead-safe renovators are properly trained and certified to conduct abatement that will properly eliminate lead hazards, and to conduct renovation, remodeling and painting in a safe manner.
The Iowa Lead Certification Program requires training and certification of lead professionals, including lead inspectors, elevated blood lead inspectors, visual risk assessors, lead abatement contractors, lead abatement workers and lead-safe renovators. It also requires certification of the firms that employ certified lead professionals.
Online certification now available
The Lead Professional Certification Program transitioned to a 3-year certification cycle in July 2017. This transition includes a new online database that will allow lead professionals to apply and pay online. Access to this database is now available. Click here to access the IDPH Regulatory Page for Lead Professionals. There you will find instructions on how to access and use the database.
For a list of Iowa certified lead professionals and additional information regarding lead certification in Iowa, visit the Lead Professional Certification website at https://idph.iowa.gov/Environmental-Health-Services/Lead-Professional-Certification.
Lists of Iowa Certified Professionals (updated periodically)
For more information on lead poisoning contact us at 1-800-972-2026 or online at Contact Us.