LEAD IN-HOUSE DUST - RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EXPOSURE METRICS

This paper examines the quantitative relationships between dust loadin g, lead loading, and lead concentration in house dust. Bare floor, int erior sill, and carpet dust samples were collected in 216 Jersey City, New Jersey, homes using quantitative wipe and vacuum sampling techniq ues. Comparison of wipe and vacuum sample distributions for these home s indicated that lead loading was more variable than dust loading or l ead concentration measured on floors, sills, or carpets. These data al so indicated that increased lead loading on carpets relative to sills or floors was due to higher dust loading on carpets. Correlation analy sis of wipe samples indicated that dust loading was more strongly corr elated with lead loading on floors (r = 0.73) than on sills (r = 0.53) , that dust loading was not correlated with lead concentration on eith er surface, and that lead loading and lead concentration were more str ongly correlated in samples collected from sills (r = 0.81) than from floors (r = 0.65). Most importantly, carpets and rugs served as large reservoirs for house dust and consequently were a large potential sour ce of dust exposure in children's common microenvironments. (C) 1995 A cademic Press, Inc.