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Acknowledgements
And Thanks
Contributions: Thanks to the
following people for sending in articles and ideas: Dr Chloë
Mason, Theresa Gordon, Herbert Beauchamp, Fred Salome, Noela
Whitton, Sandra Eager, Juliet Suich, Dr Garth Alperstein.
Cartoons and
Graphics: Rose Lennon, Augustina Jones, Vivien Carson, Alexander
Claud, Rob Sutcliffe.
Permissions: Paul Rogers, Ralph
Scott, Dr Christopher Winder, Dr Chloe Mason, Helen Oxenbury,
William Heinemann Ltd, Sandra Eager, Clean Air Society of
Australia and New Zealand, Dr David Cohen, Science Press, Waste
Management and Environment, Dr. Ross Goodheart.
Typists: Noela
Whitton, Carol Bodle, Steve Shamoes, Elizabeth O'Brien, Cathy,
David Ratcliffe and Rogiano.
Photocopying and Distribution:
David Ratcliffe, Steve Shamoes, Lubica Forsythe.
Desktop Publishing:
Desktop Workshop.
Funding: For the second year in
a row, the Community Lead Information Centre, run by The LEAD
Group, has received a generous donation from the National Roads
and Motorists Association (NRMA).
Margaret Miller,
NRMA's Manager, Community Liaison wrote:
Dear Elizabeth,
Please find
enclosed a cheque for the sum of $2,500 as a donation for the
forthcoming year.
The NRMA
acknowledges the contribution of The LEAD Group to recent gains
made in reducing the consumption of leaded petrol and we wish you
and your supporters well in your endeavours.
Thankyou NRMA and
NRMA members!
Dedication: This issue of LEAD
Action News is dedicated to Noela Whitton for her contribution to
the environment. Her support takes the form of childcare, payments
for childcare and financial and other support for me without which
these newsletters would never see the light of day. Her media
watch service and taping of interviews is invaluable. Without even
regarding herself as an active environmentalist, she empowers me
to make a significant contribution.
Laboratory
Analysis for Lead Research at Home
A special thank you to Graeme
Waller, for allowing us to come up with some preliminary research
results without spending a cent on laboratory analysis.
It has long concerned me that
the system of soil and dust control, which I invented, may
contribute to lead contamination of our clothing. My system
involves placing beach towels wet (spun, not dripping) from the
washing machine and laying them at doorways to the outside, at the
bottom of stairs, beside the bath and beside beds, and anywhere
else where children, pets and especially people with big feet
(their shoes carry more dirt) might be going from a place of
greater dustiness to a cleaner place in the house. The wet beach
towels are many times more efficient at taking dirt off the soles
of shoes or feet than a dry towel or mat. (Experiment for yourself
by laying wet and dry towels side by side at the back door.) By
the time the towel is dry it is ready to be picked up, carefully
so as to avoid getting yourself dusty or allowing the dust to fall
back on the floor, and washed in the washing machine, in a load
dedicated to dusty floor towels. Half my towels (all the dark
coloured ones) are now used solely on the floor. After the load is
washed and the towels replaced on the floor, (even on top of
carpet according to my friends), the washing machine must be
rinsed out using a hose connected to the laundry taps. I was
concerned that even this rinsing and spinning off of the rinse
water, plus emptying of the filter, might not be sufficient to
protect the next load of clothes from being contaminated with
lead. But here are the results:
Water from the washing machine,
obtained after the floor towels had been agitated for five minutes
with detergent, contained 93 micrograms of lead per litre of water
(µg/L). In the following load, after 5 minutes agitation with
detergent but without any clothing in the machine, the water
obtained contained 10 µg/L. In Australia, the safe drinking water
level is 50 µg/L, although other OECD countries regard 10 or 15
µg/L as the safe drinking water level. Just as a comparison, I
also had a sample of first flush water from the laundry tap
analysed, after it had been sitting in the pipes all night. The
result was 22 µg/L which finally convinced me that flushing the
water whenever it has been sitting in the pipes for more than six
hours, is excellent advice even in Australia.
Isn't it a crying shame that
there's no well funded Lead Centre in Australia to carry out
proper research to answer this kind of vital house dust control
question?
Elizabeth O'Brien
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