Pj. Lioy et al., THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A HOME CLEANING INTERVENTION STRATEGY IN REDUCING POTENTIAL DUST AND LEAD EXPOSURES, Journal of exposure analysis and environmental epidemiology, 8(1), 1998, pp. 17-35
The changes in dust loading, lead loading and lead concentration, dete
rmined from vacuum samples and wipe samples collected during the Child
hood Lead Exposure Assessment and Reduction Study (CLEARS) were analyz
ed to determine the efficacy of the cleaning protocol in homes of chil
dren found to have moderate lead poisoning, e.g. levels between 10-20
mu g/dL. The samples were collected at least twice, and in 65 homes th
ree times, during the course of a year long intervention in homes wher
e half were randomized into a group which received a standardized Lead
Intervention program for lead reduction, and the other homes only rec
eived an Accident Intervention program. The homes with lead burdened c
hildren were located in Hudson County, New Jersey (primarily in Jersey
City), and were referred to the CLEARS by a number of private and pub
lic sources. Each home had wipe sampling conducted with the LWW Sample
r (patented), and vacuum sampling was completed using a device describ
ed by Wang et al. in Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. T
he results were compared in two ways: (1) between the two intervention
groups, and (2) over the time course of the intervention period. When
compared to the values seen in the first visit vacuum sampling result
s showed statistically significant decreases in lead loading and dust
loading by the third sampling visit for the Lead Intervention homes. S
ubstantial reductions in lead loading and dust loading were also seen
when the Lend Intervention values were compared to values obtained in
the Accident Intervention homes over the course of the year long inter
vention. The wipe sampling results for the 65 homes with three visits
found no significant reductions in dust loading and lead loading among
any of the room surfaces sampled in the Accident Intervention homes.
There were 75% and 50% reductions observed on the window sills and on
the bedroom floors of the homes which participated in the Lead Interve
ntion. The levels in the living room and the kitchen showed very littl
e change in loadings. This appeared to be due to the fact these rooms
were near a background or baseline value of 0.3 g/cm(2) and 0.12 mg/cm
(2) for dust loading and lead, respectively. This was substantiated by
the window sills and bedroom wipe sampling results since each surface
approached these values by the third visit. Significant reductions in
lead concentrations found in the wipe samples from the intervention h
omes appeared to be related to the absence of historically active sour
ces of lead in these homes, rather than elimination of current sources
. The results of the micro-environmental sampling program in CLEARS in
dicated that a year-long cleaning protocol can significantly decrease
lead levels in rugs and on other exposed surfaces. This will reduce th
e potential for exposure to lead among the occupants, especially child
ren, that come in contact with such surfaces.