Find the right test, understand your results, identify possible lead hazards, and connect with qualified help. These free tools walk you through the questions people ask us most, one step at a time, and point you to the official source behind every number they show.
In short: pick what you need help with below, answer a few questions, and you get plain-language guidance plus links to the right test, lab or professional. The tools are screening and educational guides. They are not a lead test, a formal risk assessment or medical advice.
What do you need help with?
Start with the Home Lead Risk Checker, then use What Lead Test Do I Need? for the right paint test.
Open Home Lead Risk CheckerWhat Lead Test Do I Need? will point you to the right water test and a certified lab.
Open What Lead Test Do I Need?Enter your number in the Lead Test Results Interpreter to see how it compares with official reference values.
Open Lead Test Results InterpreterThe Home Lead Risk Checker goes through paint, pipes, soil and other sources and tells you what to test first.
Open Home Lead Risk CheckerWhat Lead Test Do I Need? explains dust wipe and soil sampling and links to EPA-recognized labs.
Open What Lead Test Do I Need?Find certified inspectors and risk assessors from official lists, or send us a request and we will help.
Open Certified Lead Professional FinderFind Free Lead Testing lists free and low-cost water, blood and home testing programs in your state, each checked on its official page.
Open Find Free Lead Testing Near MeThe grants finder shows HUD lead hazard grants and local programs in your state. Lead hazards should be removed by a certified abatement contractor.
Open Lead Removal Grants & Assistance FinderWhat Lead Test Do I Need? covers dishes, toys, jewelry, spices and other products, and what a home test can and can't tell you.
Open What Lead Test Do I Need?The Lead-Safe Renovation Planner tells you whether EPA's lead-safe rule applies and gives you a before, during and after checklist.
Open Lead-Safe Renovation PlannerAll free lead tools
Here is what each tool does:
- What lead test do I need? Tell it what you want to check (paint, water, dust, soil, dishes, or a person) and why, and it suggests the kind of test that fits: a home kit, a mail-in lab test, a certified professional, or a doctor.
- Home lead risk checker Answer questions about when your home was built, its paint, pipes, yard and recent work, and see which possible lead sources are worth checking first.
- Lead test results interpreter Enter a number and its unit from a water, soil, dust wipe or paint report, and see how it compares with the federal reference values for that kind of sample.
- Blood lead level explainer Enter a blood lead result and see what CDC’s reference value means, what questions to ask your doctor, and where to get help.
Why these tools are free
Most people come to lead testing with one worry: a toddler chewing a window sill, an old house they just bought, a water notice from the city, or a doctor’s call about a blood test. The first step is usually the same: figure out what to test and who can help. That should not cost money or require an account.
LeadDetector is an information site. We may earn a commission when you buy a test kit through a link on our guides, and certified professionals can list their business with us. Neither changes what a tool tells you. The tools never recommend a brand, and their answers are based only on what you enter and on published official guidance.
How we source reference values
Every number a tool compares your answers with comes from an official source: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or the federal regulations themselves in the Code of Federal Regulations. Next to each value, the tool shows the source, a link to it, and the date the value took effect or the date we last checked it.
Some of these values change. For example, EPA’s dust-lead hazard standards for homes changed on January 12, 2026, and CDC lowered its blood lead reference value for children to 3.5 µg/dL in 2021. When an agency updates a value, we update the tool and the date shown with it. Some states use stricter values than the federal ones; where that matters, the tools tell you to check with your state or local health department.
We also keep testing methods apart. A paint swab, a water sample, a dust wipe, a soil sample and a blood test measure different things in different units, so a number from one cannot be compared with a limit for another. The tools always ask what kind of sample you have before they say anything about a number.
Your privacy
- No sign-up. You can use every tool without an account or an email address.
- Your answers stay in your browser. The tools work on your own device. We do not store or send what you type, including blood lead results or your address.
- Only if you ask. If you choose to request help from a lead professional, we send only the details you enter in that request form, and only after you submit it.
What the tools can and cannot do
The tools help you decide what to do next. They cannot tell you whether your home, water or child has lead. Only a test can do that: a laboratory analysis, an inspection or risk assessment by a certified professional, or a blood test ordered by a doctor or health department. If someone may have swallowed something containing lead, or you are worried about symptoms, call your doctor or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
What’s coming next
We are building more tools around the questions readers send us, such as checking whether a water filter is certified for lead and planning safe work in an older home. New tools appear in the list above as soon as they are ready. If there is a tool you wish existed, tell us.
Frequently asked questions
Can an online tool tell me if I have lead in my home?
No. A tool can point out likely sources and the right test, but lead can only be confirmed by testing. For paint, dust and soil, see lead paint testing and lead dust and soil testing; for water, see lead water testing.
Do you save the results I enter?
No. The tools run in your browser and we do not keep what you type. Close the page and your answers are gone.
Are the tools a substitute for a lead inspection?
No. An inspection or risk assessment by a certified professional is the formal way to find lead paint and lead hazards in a home. Our Find a Lead Professional page lists certified inspectors and risk assessors, and Lead Testing Labs lists EPA-recognized labs.
Who checks the numbers in the tools?
Our editors check each value against the agency page or regulation it comes from and record the date. You can follow the link next to any value to read the source yourself.