It’s easy to miss the warning signs of a child or teen who’s taking up paint.
But what about a painting you know has the potential to pose a risk to you?
It’s an easy enough decision to make.
Paint can be contaminated with paint-borne pathogens, and it can also contain chemicals that can harm the body.
The good news is that paint can be safely removed from the home, and many homeowners are able to do so with the proper precautions.
Here are a few things to consider before you throw away paint or give it to a friend.
What are the health risks?
The paint can contain lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, arsenic salts and other contaminants that pose serious health risks to the general public.
And paint is one of the most common chemicals that kids play with.
The CDC warns that children can pose a greater risk to themselves if they’re exposed to a high level of lead paint, or when they play with other people who have high levels of lead in their blood.
For example, one study showed that the number of children with elevated blood lead levels doubled in cities with high concentrations of lead-containing paint, while the number with elevated lead levels fell by half in cities that had low levels.
Lead exposure in children can cause brain damage and developmental delays.
What do you do if you have paint in your home?
If you think you’ve inadvertently contaminated your paint, there are a number of things you can do.
You can get it out of the house or you can dispose of it by throwing it out.
But if you do it by hand, there’s a chance you’ll end up with a paint-related illness that can make you sick.
The best way to do that is to take a paint cleaning kit.
This is a little-known product that you can get in the form of paint wipes or wipes that come in a tube or container.
You fill the wipes with water and shake them in a bowl or other container.
Then you take a piece of cloth and squeeze out a few drops of paint or some other paint-containing material.
Then, you wipe it off.
It’s safe to use in that situation, but you should also wash the cloth and brush away any lingering residue.
If you’re worried that you’ve gotten paint on your clothing, it’s a good idea to check your clothing for paint stains.
It could be that the stains were left behind by a child who was playing with paint.
That could lead to a serious infection.
How to safely dispose of paintYou can also take a few precautions to make sure your paint doesn’t get into the hands or eyes of kids.
First, wash your hands thoroughly.
Second, if you’re not using a paint cleaner, you should use an alcohol-based product instead.
This will keep the paint from sticking to your hands and from getting onto clothing or other items.
Third, if your paint is too thin to get off easily, take a thin brush and brush a thin layer of paint over it to make it easier to get at.
You should be able to see the paint and get a good feel for how thick the paint is.
It should be very thin and not have a lot of paint clinging to it.
Lastly, keep a paint bucket handy.
The paint can get trapped under the top of the bucket, and you can use that to make a small cut on the paint to help keep it away from kids.
And for a more hands-on approach, you can always spray paint onto a piece you’re painting with a brush.
You don’t have to be a professional to do this.
Just keep an eye on the surface and make sure the paint has a good contact time.
Once you’re finished, clean your work area and dispose of any remaining paint.