Leaded windows as a source of lead within homes

Road sediment, an underutilized material in environmental science research: A review of perspectives on United States studies with international context

Road sediment is a pervasive environmental medium that acts as both source and sink for a variety of natural and anthropogenic particles and often is enriched in heavy metals. Road sediment is generally understudied in the United States (U.S.) relative to other environmental media and compared to countries such as China and the United Kingdom (U.K.). However, the U.S. is an ideal target for these studies due to the diverse climates and wealth of geochemical, socioeconomic, demographic, and health data. This review outlines the existing U.S. road sediment literature while also providing key international perspectives and context. Furthermore, the most comprehensive table of U.S. road sediment studies to date is presented, which includes elemental concentrations, sample size, size fraction, collection and analytical methods, as well as digestion procedure. Overall, there were observed differences in studies by sampling time period for elemental concentrations, but not necessarily by climate in the U.S. Other key concepts addressed in this road sediment review include the processes controlling its distribution, the variety of nomenclature used, anthropogenic enrichment of heavy metals, electron microscopy, health risk assessments, remediation, and future directions of road sediment investigations. Going forward, it is recommended that studies with a higher geographic diversity are performed that consider smaller cities and rural areas. Furthermore, environmental justice must be a focus as community science studies of road sediment can elucidate pollution issues impacting areas of high need. Finally, this review calls for consistency in sampling, data reporting, and nomenclature to effectively expand work on understudied elements, particles, and background sediments.

Impact of home carpets on childhood lead intervention study

Blood lead data for a childhood lead exposure study have been reanalyzed to examine the impact of carpets on the effectiveness of a cleaning intervention in 39 New Jersey urban houses. All eligible houses in the study were classified as carpeted and uncarpeted depending on the number of rooms that were carpeted. The cleaning protocol was associated with a significant reduction in the blood lead concentrations for the uncarpeted homes (P = 0.004), whereas no significant change was found for the carpeted homes (P = 0.566). We also completed correlation analyses between the number of cleaning visits and the percentage reduction in blood lead for the carpeted/uncarpeted houses. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.67) between the number of cleanings and blood lead reduction for the uncarpeted homes, but no correlation (r = 0.04) for the carpeted homes. In a multiple regression model that took confounding variables into account, the carpet status (carpeted or uncarpeted) remained a factor of the effect of cleaning on blood lead (P = 0.05). We conclude that the presence of contaminated carpets inhibits the effectiveness of home cleaning despite a high-efficiency particulate air filtered vacuum protocol that removes a substantial amount of lead dust.