However, you can still get lead poisoning by breathing and ingesting lead dust. The dust comes from the scrapings and residue from the paint-stripping operation. Here's a common but very dangerous scenario: A guy takes a break from paint stripping, sits down in the work area, smokes a cigarette, and eats a sandwich - all without cleaning up. In the process, he's probably ingested a dangerous amount of lead.

There are plenty of other hazards, too. When using heat tools, the vaporized organics from the melted paint aren't wonderful for your lungs or bloodstream. Hot melted paint can burn your skin.

When yoiu strip paint, you're taking a risk. How much of a risk depends n your state of health, on how much stripping you do, on how concentrated your stripping sessions are, and on the precautions you take.

Adhere to the following precautions:

No pregnant women or children under six should be in the house during paint stripping. Fetuses and small children are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of stripping solvents, and especially, lead poisoning. Also: Keep animals out of the work area. There are too many cases where the family pet has died from lead poisoning, even when the exterior of a house was being stripped. They were pawing the contaminated dirt and licking their fur.

Old houses contain leaded paint. You should wear a respirator that's specifically designed to filter micro-particulate lead. An ordinary dust mask is not enough. Use a respirator.

Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate! That doesn't mean open a window. Working in a garage with the door wide open is best, but you can't do that if the woodwork is still attached. So go for cross ventilation, preferably with an exhaust fan in a wide open window. Close off the room from the rest of the house. Be thorough, because leaded dust is insidious. And you don't want to smell chemicals when you go to bed at night. Use polyethylene sheets, and duct tape. Working in an inadequately ventilated room will produce nausea, confusion and lack of coordination, a general feeling of malaise, and potentially irreversible physiological damage.

Wear a seperate set of work clothes for stripping, including shoes you can take off before trekking around the rest of the house. Wash them seperately.

Don't eat or smoke anywhere near the stripping site. Not even after daily cleanup. Microscopic leaded dust settles on food: and smokers are much more likely to get lead poisoning than non-smokers. That's because the lead travels from their fingers to the cigarette to their lips and is ingested. Always scrub your hands before eating or smoking. (You shouldn't be lighting up around dust and chemical solvents anyway.)

Clean up the work area daily. Get rid of sludge so you don't slup on it. Vacuum dust using a HEPA vac and empty it outdoors. Damp-mop floors, walls and horizontal surfaces like window sills every day. Get rid of that dust!