An Examination of the Relationships between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Floor Lead Loading Clearance Level for Lead-Based Paint Abatement, Surface Dust Lead by a Vacuum Collection Method, and Pediatric Blood Lead

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and several states have established floor and window dust lead clearance levels that must be met following lead-based paint abatement. These levels are also used as action levels to determine when exposure reduction measures are needed. Data are lacking on the relationship between these levels and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) goal of having no more than 5 percent of children with blood lead levels above 10 μg/dl. Similarly, little information is available on the relationship between results using the HUD-prescribed surface wipe dust sampling method and a vacuum dust collection method utilizing a personal air sampling pump as a vacuum source, which has been used in a number of lead exposure studies. Blood lead, paint lead, and floor dust lead levels by both methods from 53 households in a mining community with lead paint sources were examined to help answer these questions. Results suggest that the HUD floor clearance level may not be low enough to achieve the CDC childhood blood lead goal. The two dust collection methods were found to be statistically correlated. Vacuum dust lead was correlated to paint lead, but wipe dust lead was not.