Heavy metal concentrations in and around households near a secondary lead smelter

Housedusts and garden soils were sampled in 14 houses in the vicinity of a secondary Pb smelter and analysed for concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, As, and Hg. Sixty-one topsoil samples were also taken from a 2 km(2) grid cove ring the smelter grounds and surrounding residential areas and analysed for concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu. Contour maps generated from the grid data indicate significant contamination in the area (maximum Pb concentrati on 58 500 mu g g(-1)), particularly down-wind of the smelter grounds. A geo metric mean Pb concentration of 2225 mu g g(-1) was recorded in garden soil and similarly elevated levels were recorded for Zn, Cd, As and Sb. In hous edusts, a geometric mean Pb concentration of 1668 mu g g(-1) was observed. Whilst housedust metal concentrations were generally elevated, compared to other urban or residential areas, there appears to be a large degree of att enuation of the metals between the exterior and interior environments of th e homes studied. A significant correlation was not recorded between metal c oncentrations of garden soils and housedusts. There were significant correl ations for: distance from the smelter against garden soil metal concentrati ons; garden soil metal concentrations against each other; housedust metal c oncentrations against each other; and house age against garden soil metal c oncentrations.