Testing soil for lead?

[Michael Wentzel]

This is an obscure topic, but I figured someone might have some experience with it.

We're looking at picking up a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house about 40-minutes south of where we live. I've been following the local news from that community to learn more. Over the weekend the local newspaper ran a story about a particular neighborhood having issues of high lead content in the soil. I did a bit of research and my potential new rental is in this neighborhood. The neighborhood used to be home to a "smelter" in the late 1800's. There has been a very small sampling of soil in the neighborhood which showed 5 out of 13 properties had elevated lead levels in the soil. The community is split on what to do. Some are pushing for the neighborhood to get "Superfund" federal money for clean-up while others are saying the whole thing is a non-issue. More extensive testing is being done.

We're expecting the seller to sign our counter offer tomorrow if they have not already done so. I have an inspection scheduled for Thursday morning. Should I test the soil in the yard for lead? Hire someone? Buy a kit of the internet? Ignore it?

Any experience or insights on this one?

Mike