> You have to scratch the paint to search each layer and people don't want to do that.

So you scratch the bottom, and patch it if you really care that much.

> You also can't offer to visit someone for free and do a quick test since each test costs you money

A fancy x-ray whizzbang that hasn't been developed yet costs money, too. And so does a technician to run it.

This seems like a very silly solution looking for a problem.

If you have lead paint that has been painted over, you don't really have a problem.

That's not true at all. Most lead pain has been painted over by now - it's almost 40 years old.

Yet people are still exposed to it.

People are still exposed to it because it is in poor repair. The top advice for what to do with interior lead paint is to paint over it.

(Shrug) You could always teach your kids not to eat paint chips.

Infants put everything in their mouths. They may be poisoned before they understand.

Sounds like an excellent reason not to leave infants unsupervised, then.

Go raise an infant and report back with your luck on this method.

This is why the human race is pretty much doomed.

"Lead paint is poisonous. Your child shouldn't be allowed to consume it."

"No, actually, you're wrong. Have a downvote."

Eventually all civil discourse will look like this. We're already starting to see it in Presidential debates.

Sorry you were downvoted. I gave you an upvote before my initial response.

You may have been downvoted because your response may have seemed a little snarky to some. While your suggestions make sense they are not necessarily practicable or economically feasible in all cases. People are pretty sensitive when it comes to the health their children and wants what's best even when they cannot provide it.

No, if the human race is doomed, it's because ignorant people think it's okay to leave children exposed to known toxic substances.

No amount of "supervision" is going to keep a child from consuming lead paint. Children do not get lead poisoning because they walk up to lead-painted walls and start gnawing on them like they are corncobs.

Lead paint forms toxic dust. The dust gets on floors and into dirt. Children crawl around, and they WILL put their hands in their mouths even if they are "supervised" at all times.

What we are starting to see in presidential debates is an ignorant man talking like he knows everything.