Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Lead speciation in indoor dust: a case study to assess old paint contribution in a Canadian urban house

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Residents in older homes may experience increased lead (Pb) exposures due to release of lead from interior paints manufactured in past decades, especially pre-1960s. The objective of the study was to determine the speciation of Pb in settled dust from an urban home built during WWII. X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and micro-X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were performed on samples of paint (380–2,920 mg Pb kg−1) and dust (200–1,000 mg Pb kg−1) collected prior to renovation. All dust samples exhibited a Pb XANES signature similar to that of Pb found in paint. Bulk XANES and micro-XRD identified Pb species commonly found as white paint pigments (Pb oxide, Pb sulfate, and Pb carbonate) as well as rutile, a titanium-based pigment, in the <150 μm house dust samples. In the dust fraction <36 μm, half of the Pb was associated with the Fe-oxyhydroxides, suggesting additional contribution of outdoor sources to Pb in the finer dust. These results confirm that old paints still contribute to Pb in the settled dust for this 65-year-old home. The Pb speciation also provided a clearer understanding of the Pb bioaccessibility: Pb carbonate > Pb oxide > Pb sulfate. This study underscores the importance of taking precautions to minimize exposures to Pb in house dust, especially in homes where old paint is exposed due to renovations or deterioration of painted surfaces.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abt, E., Suh, H. H., Allen, G., & Koutrakis, P. (2000). Characterization of indoor particle sources: A study conducted in the metropolitan Boston area. Environmental Health Perspectives, 108(1), 35–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adgate, J. L., Rhoads, G. G., & Lioy, P. J. (1998a). The use of isotope ratios to apportion sources of lead in Jersey City, NJ, house dust wipe samples. Science of the Total Environment, 221, 171–180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adgate, J. L., Willis, R. D., Buckley, T. J., Chow, J. C., Watson, J. G., Rhoads, G. G., et al. (1998b). Chemical mass balance source apportionment of lead in house dust. Environmental Science and Technology, 32, 108–114.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allott, R. W., Kelly, M., & Hewitt, C. N. (1992). Behavior of urban dust contaminated by Chernobyl fallout: Environmental half-lives and transfer coefficients. Environmental Science and Technology, 26(11), 2142–2147.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • APac Chemical Corporation. (2002). Citric acid. General product information. http://www.apacchemical.com/citricacidprint.htm. Verified 16 December 2009.

  • Barrett, J. E. S., Taylor, K. G., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., & Charnock, J. M. (2010). Solid-phase speciation of Pb in urban road dust sediment: a XANES and EXAFS study. Environmental Science and Technology, 44, 2940–2946.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Butte, W., & Heinzow, B. (2002). Pollutants in house dust as indicators of indoor contamination. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 175, 1–46.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (2009). Lead in older homes. Website from Government of Canada. http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/yohoyohe/inaiqu/inaiqu_007.cfm. Verified February 9, 2010.

  • Casteel, S. W., Weis, C. P., Henningsen, G. M., & Brattin, W. J. (2006). Estimation of relative bioavailability of lead in soil and soil-like materials using young swine. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118, 1162–1171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbeil, M.-C., & Robinet, L. (2002). X-ray powder diffraction data for selected metal soaps. Powder Diffraction, 17(1), 52–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Culbard, E. B., Thorton, I., Watt, J., Wheatley, M., Moorcroft, S., & Thompson, M. (1988). Metal contamination in British urban dusts and soils. Journal of Environment Quality, 17, 226–234.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Encyclopædia Britannica. (2009). Anhydrite In: Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved April 15, 2009 from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EDchecked/topic/25417/anhydrite.

  • Funasaka, K., Tojo, T., Katahira, K., Shinya, M., Miyazaki, T., Kamiura, T., et al. (2008). Detection of Pb L-III edge XANES spectra of urban atmospheric particles combined with simple acid extraction. Science of the Total Environment, 403, 230–234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Godelitsas, A., Astilleros, J. M., Hallam, K., Harissopoulos, S., & Putnis, A. (2003). Interaction of calcium carbonates with lead in aqueous solutions. Environmental Science and Technology, 37, 3351–3360.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gooch, J. W. (1993). Lead-based paint handbook. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, G. S., & Tinklenberg, J. (2003). Determination of Ti, Zn, and Pb in lead-based house paints by EDXRF. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 18, 775–778.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hammersley, A. P. (1998). FIT2D V10.3 reference manual V4.0. European synchrotron research facility. Paper ESRF98-HA0IT: Grenoble, France.

  • Health Canada. (2007). Lead and Health. Health Canada publication 4462, ISBN 978-0-662-44815-0. Available on website. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/contaminants/lead-plomb-eng.php. Verified May 3, 2010.

  • Hunt, A., Johnson, D. L., & Griffith, D. A. (2006). Mass transfer of soil indoors by track-in on footwear. Science of the Total Environment, 370, 360–371.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, N., & Fergusson, J. (1993). Concentrations and sources of cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in house dust in Christchurch, New Zealand. Science of the Total Environment, 138, 1–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lanphear, B. P., Hornung, R., Ho, M., Howard, C. R., Eberle, S., & Knauf, K. (2002). Environmental lead exposure during early childhood. Journal of Pediatrics, 40, 40–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lattaud, K., Vilminot, S., Hirlimann, C., Parant, H., Schoelkopf, J., & Gane, P. (2006). Index of refraction enhancement of calcite particles coated with zinc carbonate. Solid State Sciences, 8, 1222–1228.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacLean, L. C. W., Beauchemin S., & Rasmussen P. E. (2010). Application of synchrotron X-ray techniques for the determination of metal speciation in (house) dust particles. In C. L. S. Wiseman & F. Zereini (Eds.), Urban airborne particulate matter: Origins, chemistry, fate and health impacts (pp. 193–216). Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

  • Manceau, A., Boisset, M. C., Sarret, G., Hazemann, R. L., Mench, M., Cambier, P., et al. (1996). Direct determination of lead speciation in contaminated soils by EXAFS spectroscopy. Environmental Science and Technology, 30, 1540–1552.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morin, G., Ostergren, J. D., Juillot, F., Ildefonse, P., Calas, G., & Brown, G. E. (1999). XAFS determination of the chemical form of lead in smelter-contaminated soils and mine tailings: Importance of adsorption processes. American Mineralogist, 84, 420–434.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pingitore, N. E., Jr, Clague, J., Amaya, M. A., Maciejewska, B., & Reynoso, J. J. (2009). Urban airborne lead: X-ray absorption spectroscopy establishes soil as dominant source. PLoS One, 4, e5019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plater, J. M., de Silva, B., Gelbrich, T., Hursthouse, M. B., Higgitt, C. L., & Saunders, D. R. (2003). The characterization of lead fatty acid soaps in ‘protrusions’ in aged traditional oil paint. Polyhedron, 22, 3171–3179.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, P. E. (2004a). Elements and their compounds in indoor environments. In E. Merian, M. Anke, M. Ihnat, et al. (Eds.), Elements and their compounds in the environment (pp. 215–234). Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, P. E. (2004b). Can metal concentrations in indoor dust be predicted from soil geochemistry? Canadian Journal of Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy, 49, 166–174.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, P. E., Beauchemin, S., Nugent, M., Dugandzic, R., Lanouette, M., & Chénier, M. (2008). Influence of matrix composition on bioaccessible copper, zinc and nickel in urban residential dust and soil. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 14, 351–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, P. E., Subramanian, K. S., & Jessiman, B. J. (2001). A multi-element profile of housedust in relation to exterior dust and soils in the city of Ottawa, Canada. Science of the Total Environment, 267, 125–140.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ravel, B., & Newville, M. (2005). ATHENA, ARTEMIS, HEPHAESTUS: data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy using IFEFFIT. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 12, 537–541.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann, U., & Cornell, R. M. (1991). Iron oxides in the laboratory. Weinheim, Germany: VCH Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terzano, R., Spagnuolo, M., Vekemans, B., de Nolf, W., Janssens, K., Falkenberg, G., et al. (2007). Assessing the origin and fate of Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and V in industrial polluted soil by combined microspectroscopic techniques and bulk extraction methods. Environmental Science and Technology, 41, 6762–6769.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Utsunomiya, S., Jensen, K. A., Keeler, G. J., & Ewing, R. C. (2004). Direct identification of trace metals in fine and ultrafine particles in the Detroit urban atmosphere. Environmental Science and Technology, 38, 2289–2297.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Alphen, M. (1998). Paint film components. National environmental health forum monographs, General series no. 2, Glenelg Press, Australia.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for this project comes from Health Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan (ref. no. CRRS/SDRC: 4500177216). Part if this research was conducted at the beamline X-11A at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NY; contract DE-AC02-98CH10886) and at GeoSoilEnviroCARS (Sector 13), Advanced Photon Source (Chicago; contract DE-AC02-06CH11357), which are both supported by the US Department of Energy. The authors are very grateful to Dr. Kumi Pandya (NSLS), Dr. Matt Newville, and Nancy Lazarz (APS) for their help during the experimental runs. Sincere thanks are extended to Marc Chénier and Christine Levesque (Health Canada), and to Dr. John Wilson and Ted MacKinnon (Natural Resources Canada) for laboratory assistance, ICP-MS and XRD characterization. The constructive comments of Dr. Mark Richardson and Sarah Sheffield (Health Canada), and Dr. Allen Pratt (Natural Resources Canada) on an earlier version of the manuscript were greatly appreciated.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Lachlan C. W. MacLean

    Present address: Canadian Light Source Inc., University of Saskatchewan, 101 Perimeter Road, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X4, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Canada, CANMET, Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, 555 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G1, Canada

    Suzanne Beauchemin

  2. Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, HECSB, Health Canada, 50 Columbine Driveway, Tunney’s Pasture 0803C, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0K9, Canada

    Lachlan C. W. MacLean & Pat E. Rasmussen

Authors
  1. Suzanne Beauchemin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lachlan C. W. MacLean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pat E. Rasmussen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suzanne Beauchemin.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Beauchemin, S., MacLean, L.C.W. & Rasmussen, P.E. Lead speciation in indoor dust: a case study to assess old paint contribution in a Canadian urban house. Environ Geochem Health 33, 343–352 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9380-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-011-9380-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation