www.benkeet.com ©2014 ben keet 1 development of the ‘ben keet method’ of house dust analysis to...

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www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP, FRSC, MRSNZ, MinstD Geo & Hydro – K8 Ltd e-mail: [email protected]

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Page 1: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1

Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead

and other contaminants 

Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP, FRSC, MRSNZ, MinstDGeo & Hydro – K8 Ltd

e-mail: [email protected]

Page 2: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

After years of cleaning up industrial sites ….

I realised need to focus on the important issues

Like the environmental effects on people,

esp. Children

This requires a change from commercial environmental engineering to social environmental engineering

www.benkeet.com ©2011 Ben Keet 2

Page 3: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

However CHANGE, - happens even when you don’t expect it- but not always the way you want - or as fast

www.benkeet.com ©2011 Ben Keet 3

Page 4: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

www.benkeet.com ©2011 Ben Keet 4

Estimated costs of paediatric lead poisoning, United States, 1997.

Environment Attributable Factor (EAF) = 100%Main consequence = Loss of IQ over lifetimeMean blood lead level in 1997 among 5-year-old children = 2.7 µg/dLA blood lead level of 1 µg/dL I points per child = Mean loss of 0.25

Therefore, 2.7 µg/dL = Mean loss of 0.675 IQ points per childLoss of 1 IQ point = Loss of lifetime earnings of 2.39%Therefore, loss of 0.675 IQ points = Loss of 1.61% of lifetime earnings

Economic consequencesFor boys: loss of 1.61%× $881,027 (lifetime earnings) × 1,960,200 = $27.8 billionFor girls: loss of 1.61% × $519,631 (lifetime earnings) × 1,869,800 = $15.6 billion

Total costs of paediatric lead poisoning = $43.4 billion

Environmental Pollutants and Disease in American Children: Estimates of Morbidity, Mortality, and Costs for Lead Poisoning, Asthma, Cancer, andDevelopmental Disabilities, Philip J. Landrigan, Clyde B. Schechter, Jeffrey M. Lipton, Marianne C. Fahsand Joel Schwartz, The Center for Children’s Health and the Environment, The Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, and The Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; Environmental Health Perspectives • VOLUME 110 | NUMBER 7 | July 2002 

For me it started with realizing the social costs of lead poisoning. Searching I only found financial implications :

Whaw !

Page 5: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 5

Environmental attributable cost by condition

Base-case (US $ Billion)

Lead poisoning 50.9Methyl Mercury tox 5.1Asthma 2.2Intellectual Disability 5.4Autism 7.9ADHD 5

Ref.Leonardo Trasande and Yinghua Liu

Reducing The Staggering Costs Of Environmental Disease In Children,

Estimated At $76.6 Billion In 2008

(published online May 4, 2011; 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.1239), 30, no.5 (2011):863-870 Health Affairs

Lead = 66% of total cost of $ 76.6 Billion just in USA

6 years and a few $m R&D later

same outcomes

Page 6: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Hypothesis: In NZ the cost ‘per person’ is 2 x higherNZ$  1.5 Billion (annually ! ) 

reasons:

• NZ houses: Many of wood and w/b – all walls paintedv.s. US houses: Many of brick – only windows and doors painted

• Interiors NZ: - mainly paintedv.s. US: - high use of wall paper

• NZ phased out last lead-based paint around 1982v.s. US phased out lead-based paint around 1965

• NZ average disposable income is much lower than in the USleading to poor maintenance and less re-painting.

www.benkeet.com ©2008 Ben Keet 6

Page 7: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Lead-based paint history

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Pre-1945 - 70 paint > 50% Pb

Start phase out world-wide in late ‘60-ies

Still in use in NZ in mid ‘80-ies

Page 8: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

1980 - 1.000.000 households in NZ

1984 BRANZ estimates: 251.000 properties with lead based paint

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Ref. NZ Statistics

Page 9: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Difference US - NZ

NZ

US

(RRP = Renovation Repair Painters)

On January 1, 2011, firms working in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities must be certified and use lead-safe work practices during renovations.

The penalty for noncompliance is $37,000 per day, per violation and possible jail time

www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 9

Dominion Post 27 July 2011

Are we taking Lead serious in NZ?

Page 10: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

                         How my journey began

2006 (I just got a handheld XRF analyser)

• Parent from school requests assessment of house and garden as his 2 yr old became sick a few weeks after moving in a new (old) house (‘30-ies)

• Lead level in garden around house was > 2000 mg/kg

• Swipe test of floors gave > 20 mg/m2 of lead (US clearance = 100 μg/ft2)[20 x over]

• Swipes: cumbersome, variable and costly. very dependent on time since cleaning

(info from mother re last cleaning = invariably wrong)

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Page 11: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Late 2006

• More house surveys

• Used battery vacuum cleaner to take dust samples

• Main flaw: Areas most frequented and also most often cleaned

• Surveys biased towards least used and least cleaned areas.

www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 11

Page 12: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

2007

• Used vacuum cleaner bag to get average dust sample

• Useful as the most used areas are also most often vacuumed

• Started to separate the dust into grain size fractions

www.benkeet.com ©2011 Ben Keet 12

Very first sieved house dust analysis

Page 13: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

If on site: analyse painted surfaces & soil

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And mark with lead concentration

Soil

Page 14: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

2008: FREE survey at HB Field Days

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• Stand in HBRC

marquee

• Opposite entrance

gate

• 6000 visitors – 3 days

• 14 people signed up

• 4 gave permission to

publish results

Page 15: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Main stumbling blocks

• Home owners don’t want “bad info” on their property (value worries)

• Many prefer not to know (ostriches)

• “If it was an issue, the council would inform us”  

• Solution:• Vacuum cleaner bags dropped off at intermediary

(Environment Centres)• Or send direct to independent lab:• Now the ‘Ben Keet Method’ is offered by Hill Laboratories

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Page 16: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Some results

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µm Average Pbdust >300 300 230dust >150 150 385dust >75 75 594dust <75 30 370

y = -0.875x + 516.22R² = 0.4763

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

0 200 400

Pb m

g/kg

Seive in micro meters

house 93 RB

Series1

Linear (Series1)

grain size Pb1200 33

300 123150 140

75 22130 282

y = 2439x-0.576

R² = 0.9321

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0 500 1000 1500

Pb m

g/kg

grain size

Pb

Power (Pb)

Every analysis tells a story

There are similarities ……

Page 17: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Initial findings:

Analysis of fine and coarse fractions gives total concentration AND an indication where the problem may be:

• Coarse particles containing lead originate mainly from indoors• Fine particles containing lead may be carried in house from outdoors

My hypotheses:

1 Better correlation blood lead level - lead in fine dust (i.e. soil is important)2 Lead concentration in particle seize indicates source3 Mass identification of houses with high lead is possible using

a Aerial photographsb Visual indicators

Possible other factors; lead speciation, bio-availability www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 17

Page 18: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Conclusion: ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis is Potentially Better Significantly Cheaper

Using dust from vacuum cleaner bag provides:• House average lead concentration in dust for most used areas• Rapid assessment of potential lead exposure• Significant savings compared to wipe tests• Can be carried out off-site – even anonymous

www.benkeet.com ©2008 Ben Keet 18

Recommended remediation of lead-paint surfaces:• Clean surfaces with ammonia / sugar soap solution• Re-paint with acrylic based paint

Recommended for garden soil high in lead:• Ensure good mats at house entrance• Replace soil or cover with new soil + indicator

layer

Page 19: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Further work, recommendations and R&D needed

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Study relationship lead in dust fractions with blood lead level (bll)

Lead dust surveys should be carried out in all pre 1980 houses with

small children

Lead dust house surveys should be recommended by Plunket for all

pregnant woman

Testing for lead in blood of pregnant woman and babies should

become standard in NZ (as in is in the US and many EU countries)

MfE, DHB’s, councils should subsidise remedial work (re-painting /

soil work) of older houses, especially for households with young kids

(just like house insulation)

Page 20: Www.benkeet.com ©2014 Ben Keet 1 Development of the ‘Ben Keet Method’ of house dust analysis to identify lead and other contaminants Drs. Ben Keet, SQEP,

Housing Authority of Baltimore City is to pay nearly $12 million in court-ordered judgments that it owes former public housing tenants who suffered lead-paint poisoning years ago as children.

By Scott Calvert, The Baltimore Sun8:59 a.m. EDT, August 18, 2011http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-md-brochin-lead-paint-20110817,0,7720622.story?goback=%2Egde_164261_member_68234249

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                     Thank you for your attention

Questions – discussion……………………..

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