Lead in house dust of Christchurch, New Zealand: sampling, levels and sources

Abstract

Lead in house dust was determined in different areas of Christchurch, New Zealand. The mean lead level in newer (post-1950) areas of the city was 460 micrograms g-1, whereas in older (pre-1950) areas it was 830 micrograms g-1. These levels also relate to the type of building material (brick or wood, respectively) and type of paint used (non-lead or lead paint, respectively). For the newer areas of the city, it was estimated that approximately 90% of the lead was derived from petrol additives (via street dust and aerosol), whereas in the older areas, approximately 50% of the lead was estimated to come from petrol lead and 45% from paint lead.