Welcome  to  the  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. Exposure  to  lead  paint  can  cause  memory  loss, negatively  affect  learning  ability, interfere  with  your  central  nervous  system, and  cause  reproductive  problems. Lisa  Brosseau,  Associate  Professor of  Environmental  Health  Sciences  at the  University  of  Minnesota  says  that children  are  most  at  risk  in  homes. You're  mostly  worried  about children  being  especially  under  the  age  of  six. First,  because  they're  vulnerable in  terms  of  their  developmental  stage. Second,  because  they  have  a  tendency to  put  everything  in  their  mouths. How  do  I  know  whether  my  house  has  lead  paint? You  can  test  for  lead  paint. There  are  ways  to  test the  surface  taste,  test  the  paint  itself. Then  you  can  also  take a  good  guess  if  you're  in  an  older  home, especially  if  it's  before  the  age  of,  say, built  before  1978, there's  a  pretty  high  chance  it's  got  lead  paint. If  it's  built  before  1940, it's  almost  positively  got  lead  paint. Brosseau  adds  that  if  lead  paint  is  in  good  condition, it's  much  less  of  a  concern. But  if  it's  flaking  or  leaving lots  of  dust,  you  should  remove  it. And  what  they  found  is  that  painting over  doesn't  solve  the  problem. So  you  actually  need  to  think  about removing  it  for  the  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.