PERSONAL HEALTH : Who to Call About Getting Lead Out

It lingers on the lip of wine bottles, lurks in the sheen of expensive crystal and hides in the walls of elegant old homes. It is lead--one of the most persistent environmental poisons.

During the last decade, as researchers have identified more sources of lead contamination, governments have acted to protect--or at least alert--citizens. California, for example, now posts warning signs wherever leaded products are sold--from gas stations to fancy crystal showrooms.

But health departments are not always equipped to help with individual lead questions. And that’s where Stephen O’Neal comes in.

A former painting contractor who watched employees suffer the toxic effects of inhaling lead dust, O’Neal has founded the nation’s first clearinghouse for lead hazard information.

The San Francisco-based Lead Institute offers free telephone consultations and maintains a national database of lead-testing laboratories, inspection firms, “de-leading” contractors and lead-savvy public agencies. It also sells, at a modest markup, the only two home lead test kits sanctioned by Consumers Union.

O’Neal, 28, says he teamed with partner Henry Mazaleski, 34, who holds a master’s degree in public health, because “lead is everywhere and everybody should know how to avoid it.”

The Lead Institute’s toll-free number is (800) 532-3837.