| Multiple Metal Contamination from House Paints: Consequences of Power Sanding and Paint Scraping in New Orleans Howard W. Mielke,1 Eric T. Powell,1 Aila Shah,2 Christopher R. Gonzales,1 and Paul W. Mielke3 1Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, and 2Department of Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; 3Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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 (~130,000 µg 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 (~90,000 µg/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 µg Pb from all sources. Converting 7.4 kg Pb to this scale is vexing--more than 1 billion (109) times the TTDI. Also for perspective, the one-time release of 7.4  109 µg of Pb dust from sanding compares to 50 109 µg 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. Key words: Cd, Co, comparison of paint and gasoline as Pb sources, Cr, Cu, dust control, dust wipe, metal contents of old paint, Mn, Ni, Pb, sanding old paint, scraping paint, Zn, V. Environ Health Perspect 109:973-978 (2001) . [Online 5 September 2001] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2001/109p973-978mielke/ abstract.html Address correspondence to H.W. Mielke, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana, 1 Drexel Drive, New Orleans, LA 70125 USA. Telephone: (504) 483-7253. Fax: (504) 485-2930. E-mail: hmielke@xula.edu We thank the Pavur and McGuire families, S. Furide (painter) , and J. Sullivan of Lead Lab, Inc. for assistance with the raw data for this study. We also thank the outside reviewers and especially J. Matschullat for constructive comments. Funding was in part by ATSDR/MHPF cooperative agreement U50/ATU398948 and LeadLab, Inc., a not-for-profit research and educational organization, with funds from the Entergy 2000 Environmental Stewardship Award. Received 23 January 2001 ; accepted 13 March 2001.
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