Multiple metal contamination from house paints: consequences of power sanding and paint scraping in New Orleans.

Abstract

Power sanding exterior paint is a common practice during repainting of old houses in New Orleans, Louisiana, that triggers lead poisoning and releases more than Pb. In this study we quantified the Pb, zinc, cadmium, manganese, nickel, copper, cobalt, chromium, and vanadium in exterior paint samples collected from New Orleans homes (n = 31). We used interior dust wipes to compare two exterior house-painting projects. House 1 was measured in response to the plight of a family after a paint contractor power sanded all exterior paint from the weatherboards. The Pb content (approximately 130,000 microg Pb/g) was first realized when the family pet died; the children were hospitalized, the family was displaced, and cleanup costs were high. To determine the quantity of dust generated by power sanding and the benefits of reducing Pb-contaminated dust, we tested a case study house (house 2) for Pb (approximately 90,000 microg/g) before the project was started; the house was then dry scraped and the paint chips were collected. Although the hazards of Pb-based paints are well known, there are other problems as well, because other toxic metals exist in old paints. If house 2 had been power sanded to bare wood like house 1, the repainting project would have released as dust about 7.4 kg Pb, 3.5 kg Zn, 9.7 g Cd, 14.8 g Cu, 8.8 g Mn, 1.5 g Ni, 5.4 g Co, 2.4 g Cr, and 0.3 g V. The total tolerable daily intake (TTDI) for a child under 6 years of age is 6 microg Pb from all sources. Converting 7.4 kg Pb to this scale is vexing--more than 1 billion (10(9)) times the TTDI. Also for perspective, the one-time release of 7.4 x 10(9) microg of Pb dust from sanding compares to 50 x 10(9) microg of Pb dust emitted annually per 0.1 mile (0.16 km) from street traffic during the peak use of leaded gasoline. In this paper, we broaden the discussion to include an array of metals in paint and underscore the need and possibilities for curtailing the release of metal dust.

Characterising the morphological properties and surface composition of radium contaminated particles: a means of interpreting origin and deposition

“…These 250 results are consistent with the findings of previous studies of Pb based paint 26,27 . This particle also contains a distinctive Fe-Zn dominated phase that runs directly across its surface.…”

“…In all these particles C, Si, Zn, Fe, Ca are common components together with Ba, Ni, Pb, Cu, Mn and Ti. With the exception of relatively low S concentrations, this elemental profile is consistent with ZnS paints 26,27 , including 245 radioluminescent paints. Such paints frequently contained Cu, Mn and other additives to alter their colour, luminescence, stability and viscosity and flow properties.…”

Use of simulated epithelial lung fluid in assessing the human health risk of Pb in urban street dust

“…Mielke et al, 2001;Mielke et al, 2010;Mielke et al, 2011;Taylor et al, 2013;Taylor et al, 2014). A survey (Thornton et al, 1990) of metals in UK dusts has shown that most of the dusts collected from urban environments had widespread Pb contamination ranging from 172 to 9600 mg/kg; other studies have reported (Wang et al, 2006) that for example in China, 80% of children exposed to urban dust had an excessive blood lead level.…”

The high cost of improper removal of lead-based paint from housing: a case report.

“…The dust lead levels declined to less than the detection limit (3 µg/ft 2 ) and remain low (Mielke 2001). However, the attic, the yard, the layers of lead-dust next to the playhouse, and a room used for decontamination purposes remain to be cleaned.…”

“…The concentration of lead in the paint on the exterior power-sanded surface averaged 130,000 ppm (Mielke et al 2001). The federal definition of lead-based paint in housing is 5,000 ppm (Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act 1992).…”