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Home Recontamination
The following article appeared in The Science of the Total
Environment in 1995.
"Paint as a source of recontamination of houses in urban
environments and its role in maintaining elevated blood leads in children".
Brian L. Gulson, Jeffrey J. Davis, Jason
Bawden-Smith.
A detailed lead isotopic and scanning electron microscope investigation of particulates
from three houses in urban Sydney, previously decontaminated by their owners, has shown
that they have been recontaminated over varying periods, as short as 6 months. The source
of recontamination is lead paint from adjoining dwellings whose paint is thoroughly
deteriorated, as well as from unknown sources. In one house, the external to internal lead
loading was >10:1. The pathway from the lead paint contaminants is both airborne and
mechanical transport into the houses. Recontamination of houses provides an explanation
for the maintenance of elevated blood levels in the children residing in these houses.
Recontamination can be a major urban problem applicable in any community which uses leaded
paints on dwellings in the past. It is a matter of concern for families with young
children and couples, especially women who are, or intend to become, pregnant.M
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