WHAT you will need

• Plastic spoons
• Clean plastic bags with a ziplock closure
• Unpowdered disposable latex gloves (if available)
• Permanent marker
• Paper and pen
• Clean hands

Wash your hands before collecting samples.  If you are going to take several samples, you should use disposable latex gloves and be sure to use a clean pair for each sample.

WHERE to sample

Areas in your yard where your children normally play should be the first to be tested.  This includes sandboxes, along the building foundation or drip line, and next to the building if there is chipping, peeling, flaking or chalking paint.  Soil in other areas such as near a street, may also contain lead. These areas pose less danger if your children do not spend much time in or around them.

 HOW to sample

 Single Spot Sample

1. Collect the top 1/2 inch of dirt with a clean spoon, (about 1 cup of dirt) and place it into a plastic bag.  Seal the bag. Throw the spoon away, remove your gloves and throw them away, and wash your hands.

Whole Yard Sample

2. Choose five places in your yard at least two feet apart without grass or ground cover.  Draw an imaginary "X" on the ground and take samples at the middle and all four corners.  Collect the top 1/2 inch of dirt from each area with a clean plastic spoon, (about 1/4 cup of dirt from each of the five places) and put them into the same plastic bag. Seal the bag.  Throw the spoons away, remove your gloves and throw them away, and rewash your hands.

HOW to Identify the Samples

Collect all the samples in ziplock plastic bags and write where you got the sample from on the outside of the bag with a permanent marker.   Write this same information onto a piece of paper for your own records so that you can match the result(s) from the laboratory with the sample(s).

Send the samples to a lab certified by the California Department of  Health Services.  A list of certified labs is available from your local health department or our Program's Information Line at
1-800-B-LEAD-SAFE.