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Analysis of lead on dust wipes using field portable x-ray fluorescence.

Sackett DW; Allen B; Piacitelli G

American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 1998 May; :58

20043982

Methods for on-site analysis of lead on dust wipes would be a valuable tool for both risk assessment and clearance activities. Benefits include expedited transfer of property back to the property owner or tenant and thorough investigations of a property for in-place management programs and for elevated blood lead investigations. We have performed an initial evaluation using field portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for analysis of dust wipes. Twenty-eight dust wipes were collected at several Rhode Island lead abatement projects, and analyzed by a field portable XRF. The wipes and XRF results were sent to a NIOSH laboratory for digestion and analysis by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame AAS). For lead dust levels #1000 mg/wipe (20 out of 28 wipes), the XRF data agreed very well with the flame AA5 results. The correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.97, regression yields a slope of 1.02, and the average percentage deviation is 1.5%. For the full set of data (values up to 19,000 mg/wipe) the correlation coefficient was 0.95, but regression analysis yielded a slope of 0.58, and the average percentage deviation is 21%. The presence of a few large, high-lead paint chips appears to cause the poorer agreement for the full data set. Further evaluation of the XRF method was performed using ELPAT dust wipe rounds 16 through 19. ELPAT proficiency requirements were met on all of these rounds. The initial results from this study suggest that field portable XRF can provide useful quantitative data for on·site risk assessment and clearance decisions.

Analytical-Method; Analytical-methods; Lead-compounds; Lead-dust; Sampling; Sampling-methods; Risk-analysis; Exposure-assessment; Analytical-instruments; X-ray-fluorescence-analysis; Blood-analysis; Dust-sampling; Dust-analysis; Atomic-absorption-spectroscopy; Laboratories; Quantitative-analysis; Decision-making

7439-92-1

19980509

Abstract

1998

DSHEFS

American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia

MA; OH; GA