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Risk remaining from fine particle contaminants after vacuum cleaning of hard floor surfaces

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Abstract

In the indoor environment, settled surface dust often functions as a reservoir of hazardous particulate contaminants. In many circumstances, a major contributing source to the dust pool is exterior soil. Young children are particularly susceptible to exposure to both outdoor derived soil and indoor derived dust present in the indoor dust pool. This is because early in life the exploratory activities of the infant are dominated by touching and mouthing behavior. Inadvertent exposure to dust through mouth contact and hand-to-mouth activity is an inevitable consequence of infant development. Clean-up of indoor dust is, in many circumstances, critically important in efforts to minimize pediatric exposure. In this study, we examine the efficiency of vacuum cleaner removal of footwear-deposited soil on vinyl floor tiles. The study utilized a 5 × 10 foot (c. 152.5 × 305 cm) test surface composed of 1-foot-square (c. 30.5 × 30.5 cm) vinyl floor tiles. A composite test soil with moderately elevated levels of certain elements (e.g., Pb) was repeatedly introduced onto the floor surface by footwear track-on. The deposited soil was subsequently periodically removed from randomly selected tiles using a domestic vacuum cleaner. The mass and loading of soil elements on the tiles following vacuuming were determined both by wet wipe collection and by subsequent chemical analysis. It was found that vacuum cleaner removal eliminated much of the soil mass from the floor tiles. However, a small percentage of the mass was not removed and a portion of this residual mass could be picked up by moistened hand-lifts. Furthermore, although the post-vacuuming tile soil mass was sizably reduced, for some elements (notably Pb) the concentration in the residual soil was increased. We interpret this increased metal concentration to be a particle size effect with smaller particles (with a proportionately higher metal content) remaining in situ after vacuuming.

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Funding Sources: National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant # BCS-0221949.

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  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas at Arlington, Room 233A, Geoscience Building, 500 Yates Street, Box 19049, Arlington, TX, 76019-0049, USA

    Andrew Hunt

  2. Department of Chemistry, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    David L. Johnson & J. Brooks

  3. School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Box 830688, Richardson, TX, 75083, USA

    Daniel A. Griffith

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Hunt, A., Johnson, D.L., Brooks, J. et al. Risk remaining from fine particle contaminants after vacuum cleaning of hard floor surfaces. Environ Geochem Health 30, 597–611 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9183-8

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