A Pilot Study Examining Changes in Dust Lead Loading on Walls and Ceilings after Lead Hazard Control Interventions

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines on lead hazard control instruct contractors to clean floors, windows, walls, ceilings, and other horizontal surfaces to remove lead-contaminated dust and debris after lead interventions are conducted. This dust removal activity ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 2000-05, Vol.108 (5), p.453-456
Main Authors: Tohn, Ellen, Dixon, Sherry, Rupp, Ron, Clark, Scott
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ceilings
Child
Children
Cleaning
Dust - analysis
Dwellings
Environmental agencies
Environmental health
Environmental Health - legislation & jurisprudence
Guidelines as Topic
Health hazards
Housing
Housing - legislation & jurisprudence
Humans
Lead
Lead - analysis
Lead hazards
Lead Poisoning - prevention & control
Pilot Projects
Single family housing
United States
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Description
Summary:The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidelines on lead hazard control instruct contractors to clean floors, windows, walls, ceilings, and other horizontal surfaces to remove lead-contaminated dust and debris after lead interventions are conducted. This dust removal activity adds costs to each project. The need to clean floors and windows is well documented in the HUD guidelines. However, there is substantially less documentation to support the recommendation to clean walls and ceilings. We examined whether it is necessary to clean walls and ceilings after lead hazard control (LHC) interventions by comparing dust lead loadings measured on these surfaces before an LHC intervention to dust lead loadings after the intervention. Twenty-two dwelling units undergoing substantial LHC measures consistent with the HUD guidelines were enrolled in the study. There was a significant increase in dust lead loading on walls and ceilings between the pre- and postintervention. The change in wall dust lead loading was substantial and created potentially harmful lead exposures. Although statistically significant, the change in ceiling dust lead loading was minimal and the postintervention dust lead loadings were far below the existing federal floor dust lead clearance standard. These results strongly support the recommendations in the HUD guidelines to clean walls after LHC interventions and do not provide sufficient justification to alter the current recommendation to clean ceilings after lead work.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.00108453