Effectiveness of a One-Time Professional Cleaning for Lead

Project Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Project Partner: Vermont Housing and Conservation Board

Project Contact: Jonathan Wilson, jwilson@nchh.org, 443.539.4162.

Project Description

One-time professional cleaning of lead-contaminated dust and debris was conducted in 37 units with deteriorated lead-based paint and dust lead hazards. These study units were a subset of a larger cohort of the nearly 3500 housing units that were enrolled in the Evaluation of the HUD Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program. The cleaning intervention significantly reduced dust lead loadings on floors, windowsills, and window troughs immediately following the work. These reductions did not persist at six months and one year post-intervention, however. Although window trough lead loadings declined over 50% from pre-intervention to one year post-intervention, the loadings rebounded markedly from the geometric mean at clearance. These results demonstrate that a single professional cleaning of dust and debris without addressing potential sources of lead dust (such as deteriorated lead-based paint) or repeating the cleaning are unlikely to result in significant and sustained reductions in dust lead loadings.