Development and field trial of a household surface lead loading rate sampling device in a lead-contaminated community of southern Thailand.
A new dust-collecting device was developed to assess surface lead loading rates in houses in communities contaminated with lead oxide dust used for caulking in nearby boat-repair yards. The device consists of two small glass sheets with total area of 1,200 cm(2) placed in two plastic trays suspended from the ceiling in the house for 3 months before wiping and sending the dust specimen for determination of lead content using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. After a pilot trial in four households, further data were collected from 43 matched pairs of boat-caulkers' and neighboring control households. All devices were retained in the house for 3 months without any complaint. Static measurements of lead dust levels were also assessed in all households. The values significantly discriminated high from low lead exposure households (p = 0.015) and provided good correlations with floor lead loading (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, r = 0.39 to 0.62) and dust lead content (r = 0.53 to 0.64). This sampling method is an alternative to others which consume more household space or require a longer collection period.
Bureau of Occupational and Environmental Diseases, Ministry of Public Health, Nontaburi, 11000, Thailand. untimanon99@hotmail.com
Orrapan
O
Untimanon
Alan
A
Geater
Virasakdi
V
Chongsuvivatwong
Somkiat
S
Thoumsang
Pia K
PK
Verkasalo
Wiyada
W
Saetia
D004391:Dust; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D013785:Thailand
D004391:Dust; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead