DISTRIBUTION OF LEAD INSIDE THE HOME - CASE-STUDIES IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND

Air lead concentrations, deposition on moss bags and window velocity decreased rapidly through an open window in a university room. The indoor/outdoor air lead ratio was 0.82. Other experiments took place in houses in Bradford and Manchester. Lead deposition was studied using irrigated moss bags, by cleaning surfaces with moistened tissues, by washing curtains and by vacuum cleaning floors. Within a home, air lead concentrations were approximately the same upstairs and downstairs, but there was less lead in settled floor dusts upstairs compared with downstairs. Lead and dust loading on a hall floor decreased away from the front door and a front room downstairs had more lead in floor dust than a back room. Lead loadings on other surfaces were in the order window sills > furniture > walls > ceilings. Net curtains on windows effectively trapped lead aerosols. Garden soil contained more lead near the house. More lead was tracked into a hallway in wet weather and more lead entered through windows in summer months when windows were left open more often. Overall, lead loadings were higher for houses on busy streets near city centres.