Ask The Green Mama

How do I live with lead paint & a young child?

I have a toddler and I recently purchased a 1937 home. After reading about lead paint hazards and noticing some areas with slightly deteriorating paint, I am now having second thoughts about my purchase and am going crazy chasing my toddler around the house.

Unfortunately, I did not do a lead inspection during the home inspection process, as my realtor said “all homes built before 1978 have lead paint so there is no point in doing an inspection.” Of course I would like to find the areas that have lead now, so I know what I need to address and where my “hot spots” are, but was wondering if I could rent an XRF gun and do this myself to look for lead paint in the home? I know people do this to look at toys, etc, but can it be done for the interior and exterior of a house–in lieu of having a formal inspection–and, if so, what companies/brands should I look for?

Thank you.

Games! Games?

I need some new games to play with my children (and maybe my partner and friends). Any suggestions?

How to safely off-gas the chemicals in a new oven (getting rid of that gross new oven smell)

We purchased a new oven and were told to run the oven prior to use because there is something with the insulation that needs to burn off.  We are concerned with the toxic release and have been getting mixed answers on what to do. Just wondering if you have any tips on how to make our oven useable in the least toxic way?

Thank you!!!

I know PVC (vinyl) is bad: How bad are vinyl windows?

I always try to completely avoid PVC plastic.  Recently I discovered that my son’s kindergarten have PVC frame windows. I really like this school and this one is the best one in our town (organic food, wood toys, a lot of playing outside and actually a lot of concern with chemicals and stuff, but for my nightmare it does have PVC windows). Obviously, I can not demand for the school to replace them. How dangerous are PVC Windows for the children’s health?

If you could enlighten me on this I would really appreciate it `cause I’m a little panicked here. Thank you for all your information!

Recommendations for Vitamin D supplementation for women & for pregnancy

I’m a doula that works with pregnant and postpartum women. I get a lot of questions about Vitamin D and I have started taking Vitamin D and notice how good it feels. What does your research say about Vitamin D supplementation?