Lead and other heavy metals in dust fall from single-family housing demolition

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bartlett J ; Cali S ; Catalin B ; Dixon SL ; Erdal S ; Evens A ; Jacobs DE ; Mucha AP ; Vahl N ; Welch A
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE: We measured lead and other heavy metals in dust during older housing demolition and effectiveness of dust suppression. METHODS: We used American Public Housing Association Method 502 and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Methods SW3050B and SW6020 at 97 single-family housing demolition events with intermittent (or no) use of water to suppress dust at perimeter, non-perimeter, and locations without demolition, with nested mixed modeling and tobit modeling with left censoring. RESULTS: The geometric mean (GM) lead dust fall during demolition was 6.01 micrograms of lead per square foot per hour (µg Pb/ft(2)/hour). GM lead dust fall was 14.18 µg Pb/ft(2)/hour without dust suppression, but declined to 5.48 µg Pb/ft(2)/hour (p=0.057) when buildings and debris were wetted. Significant predictors included distance, wind direction, and main street location. At 400 feet, lead dust fall was not significantly different from background. GM lead concentration at demolition (2,406 parts per million [ppm]) was significantly greater than background (GM=579 ppm, p=0.05). Arsenic, chromium, copper, iron, and manganese demolition dust fall was significantly higher than background (p<0.001). Demolition of approximately 400 old housing units elsewhere with more dust suppression was only 0.25 µg Pb/ft(2)/hour. CONCLUSIONS: Lead dust suppression is feasible and important in single-family housing demolition where distances between houses are smaller and community exposures are higher. Neighbor notification should be expanded to at least 400 feet away from single-family housing demolition, not just adjacent properties. Further research is needed on effects of distance, potential water contamination, occupational exposures, and water application. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Chromium Construction Industry Copper Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Ferrous Compounds Inorganic Chemicals Lead Manganese Metals Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Safety

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-methods Analytical-models Arsenic-compounds Chromium-compounds Copper-compounds Copper-dust Demolition-industry Dust-analysis Dust-control Dust-control-equipment Dust-exposure Dust-measurement Dust-suppression Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Heavy-metals Iron-compounds Lead-compounds Lead-dust Manganese-compounds Metal-compounds Metal-dusts

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• ISSN:
  0033-3549
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Illinois ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  454-462
• Volume:
  128
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043614
• Citation:
  Public Health Rep 2013 Nov-Dec; 128(6):454-462
• Contact Point Address:
  David E. Jacobs, PhD, CIH, National Center for Healthy Housing, 5025 Hawthorne Pl. NW, Washington, DC 20016
• Email:
  dejacobsdc@gmail.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Copper (CAS RN 7440-50-8) ; Iron (CAS RN 7439-89-6) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Manganese (CAS RN 7439-96-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Public Health Reports
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:97f3db7b953952f14d9166ace67afc0240afc43b99fe813775eb0bb2b771031f57f2a0ef7bea281d1f36d7cc08fa2cfe1552566e52ec951f9c86255003f0d034
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195464/cdc_195464_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.37 MB ]