This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Willers, S. Articles by Gyntelberg, F. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Cadmium and Lead Levels in House Dust from Smokers' and Non-Smokers' Homes Related to Nicotine Levels

Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, General Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

Hans O. Hein

Clinic of Occupational Medicine, Rigshospitalet, State University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Andrejs Schütz

Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

Poul Suadicani

Clinic of Occupational Medicine, Rigshospitalet, State University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Finn Gyntelberg

Clinic of Occupational Medicine, Rigshospitalet, State University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

In children there is an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and blood lead levels. One possible explanation is a contamination of house dust by cigarette ash and smoke, since several studies have shown that house dust is a source of lead exposure. Thus, house dust samples from the vacuum cleaner sacks from 72 homes in the city of Copenhagen were ana lysed for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The lead concentration was higher in fine than in coarse fraction (medians 190 vs. 140 µg/g; p = 0.0001). For cad mium the median concentrations were 5.0 µg/g in both fractions. No statisti cally significant association was found between the smoking habits, the socio- economic status of the residents, the presence of wall-to-wall carpets, or dust nicotine levels, on the one hand, and the metal levels in the house dust, on the other. Thus, tobacco is not an important source of contamination of house dust with lead and cadmium. However, high levels found in some samples indicate that house dust may be a significant source of lead and cadmium exposure, in some small children.

Key Words: Lead • Cadmium • House dust • Environmental tobacco smoke • Nicotine

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 2, No. 1, 14-18 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X9300200103


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?