uniteo states Iepartment of 1MERCE

JUBUCATION NBS TECHNICAL NOTE 759

The NBS

Lead Paint Poisoning Project:

Housing and Other Aspects

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NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The National Bureau of Standards1 was established by an act of Congress March 3, 1901. The Bureau's overall goal is to strengthen and advance the Nation's science and

technology and facilitate their effective application for public benefit. To this end, the Bureau conducts research and provides: (1) a basis for the Nation's physical measure- ment system, (2) scientific and technological services for industry and government, (3) a technical basis for equity in trade, and (4) technical services to promote public safety. The Bureau consists of the Institute for Basic Standards, the Institute for Materials Research, the Institute for Applied Technology, the Center for Computer Sciences and

Technology, and the Office for Information Programs. THE INSTITUTE FOR BASIC STANDARDS provides the central basis within the United States of a complete and consistent system of physical measurement; coordinates

that system with measurement systems of other nations; and furnishes essential services leading to accurate and uniform physical measurements throughout the Nation's scientific community, industry, and commerce. The Institute consists of a Center for Radiation Research, an Office of Measurement Services and the following divisions: Applied Mathematics — Electricity — Mechanics — Heat — Optical Physics —

Linac Radiation 2 — Nuclear Radiation '- — Applied Radiation -' — Quantum

Electronics ; — Electromagnetics ; — Time and Frequency 3 — Laboratory

Astrophysics ' — Cryogenics 3

. THE INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH conducts materials research lead- ing to improved methods of measurement, standards, and data on the properties of

well-characterized materials needed by industry, commerce, educational institutions, and

Government; provides advisory and research services to other Government agencies; and develops, produces, and distributes standard reference materials. The Institute consists of the Office of Standard Reference Materials and the following divisions: Analytical Chemistry—Polymers—Metallurgy—Inorganic Materials—Reactor

Radiation—Physical Chemistry.

THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGY provides technical services to pro- mote the use of available technology and to facilitate technological innovation in industry and Government; cooperates with public and private organizations leading to the development of technological standards (including mandatory safety standards), codes and methods of test; and provides technical advice and services to Government agencies upon request. The Institute also monitors NBS engineering standards activities and

provides liaison between NBS and national and international engineering standards

bodies. The Institute consists of a Center for Building Technology and the following

divisions and offices: Engineering and Product Standards—Weights and Measures—Invention and

Innovation—Product Evaluation Technology—Electronic Technology—Technical Analysis—Measurement Engineering—Building Standards and Code Services4—Housing Technology4 —Federal Building Technology4—Structures, Materials and Life Safety 4—Building Environment4—Technical Evaluation and

Application4—Fire Technology.

THE INSTITUTE FOR COMPUTER SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY conducts re- search and provides technical services designed to aid Government agencies in improving cost effectiveness in the conduct of their programs through the selection, acquisition, and effective utilization of automatic data processing equipment; and serves as the principal focus within the executive branch for the development of Federal standards for automatic data processing equipment, techniques, and computer languages. The Center

consists of the following offices and divisions: Information Processing Standards—Computer Information—Computer Services —Systems Development—Information Processing Technology.

THE OFFICE FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS promotes optimum dissemination and accessibility of scientific information generated within NBS and other agencies of

the Federal Government; promotes the development of the National Standard Reference Data System and a system of information analysis centers dealing with the broader

aspects of the National Measurement System; provides appropriate services to ensure

that the NBS staff has optimum accessibility to the scientific information of the world, and directs the public information activities of the Bureau. The Office consists of the following organizational units: Office of Standard Reference Data—Office of Technical Information and

Publications—Library—Office of International Relations.

1 Headquarters and Laboratories at Gaithersburg, Maryland, unless otherwise noted ; mailing address Washington, D.C. 20234.

? Part of the Center for Radiation Research.

3 Located at Boulder, Colorado S0302.

* Part of the Center for Building Technology.
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The NBS Lead Paint Poisoning Project:

Housing and Other Aspects

Harvey W. Berger

Center for Building Technology

Institute for Applied Technology

National Bureau of Standards Washington, D.C. 20234

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NBS Technical Notes are designed to supplement the Bureau's regular publications program. They provide a means for making available scientific data that are of

transient or limited interest. Technical Notes may be

listed or referred to in the open literature.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Frederick B. Dent, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS,. Richard W. Roberts, Director

Issued February 1973
National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 759

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 759, 25 pages (Feb.1973) CODEN: NBTNAE

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

Price $0.30 domestic postpaid or $0.20 G. P.O. Bookstore.
CONTENTS

Page

1. Introduction 1

2. National Estimates of Lead Paint Poisoning 3

3. Detection of Lead in Paint 4

4. The Housing Problem 6

5. Conclusion 16

6. References 20

Table 1. Estimated Lead Paint Production and Usage in

Residential Interiors 10

Figure 1. Paint Production Graph

iii

The NBS Lead Paint Poisoning Project:

Housing and Other Aspects*

Harvey W. Berger

The National Bureau of Standards is providing technical support required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development

to carry out its research responsibilities under PL 91-695, The

Lead Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. The program at NBS

has involved three major areas of research: (1) an estimation

of the numbers of children at risk and with excessive body burdens of lead and the geographical distribution of those children;

(2) the capabilities and characteristics of analytical methods

for the detection of lead in paint and other building materials

and (3) the identification and evaluation of materials, techniques and systems for removing or eliminating the lead paint

hazard from housing. This paper is a brief presentation of the

activities and conclusions of NBS in the areas listed above.

Key words: Hazard elimination; lead analysis; lead paint; lead

poisoning.

1. Introduction

There are 17 million children aged one to six living in our nation's

cities. Two and a half million of them live in old, dilapidated housing

built before 1940 [1]. They are the ones who are most acutely exposed

to the dangers of lead paint poisoning. Current medical evidence indicates

* Sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. 20410.

1
that at least 90% of the children that have lead poisoning have eaten

paint containing lead [2], There is little doubt that a major cause of

this widespread poisoning is the availability and accessibility of old

lead paint.

The cities of Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and New

Haven have had lead poisoning control programs in operation for many

years. As a result of their activities and the efforts of community

based organizations, the scope and severity of lead paint poisoning received increasing attention and in 1970 Congressional hearings were held

on this problem [3,4].

In January 1971 the Lead Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act,

PL 91-695, was signed into law by President Nixon. That law defined

three major areas of responsibility for the Department of Health,

Education and Welfare and one major area of responsibility for the

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Under Title III,

HUD was directed to carry out a research and demonstration program to

determine the nature and extent of the problem of lead based paint poisoning and to identify and evaluate methods for the elimination of the

problem.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department

of Commerce have an inter-agency agreement [5] establishing the National

Bureau of Standards (NBS) as the center of technical support for HUD in

the area of building research and housing technology. In order to fulfill its mission on lead paint poisoning, HUD called upon NBS to provide

technical assistance in carrying out its research programs. The NBS
Lead Paint Poisoning Project was established within the Building Research

Division (now the Center for Building Technology) . That division had the

responsibility for overall program coordination and planning in addition

to the task of identifying and evaluating methods and materials for the

elimination of the hazard from housing. The Analytical Chemistry Division

was assigned the task of identifying and evaluating methods for the

detection and measurement of lead in building materials, and the Applied

Mathematics and Technical Analysis Divisions were called upon to estimate

the magnitude of the problem and to describe its nature and geographical

distribution.

2. National Estimates of Lead Paint Poisoning

A major research effort carried out by the Applied Mathematics and

Technical Analysis Divisions was the development of a mathematical model

to provide estimates of the national extent of lead paint poisoning.

Several factors may contribute to the incidence of this disease. The

characteristics of housing such as its age; condition; vacancy rate;

whether it is owned or rented; whether it is single or multiple unit and

the characteristics of the occupants of that housing: the age of the

children; crowding; mobility; income; educational level and other factors

have been considered and evaluated. It appears, however, that there are

only two factors that are essential for the estimation of lead paint

poisoning incidence. They are: dilapidated housing, and occupancy of

that housing by children aged 6 or less.
The mathematical model shown below has been used to estimate the

number of children (N) in urban areas who have the elevated blood lead

levels (EBL's) that are indicative of excessive body burdens of lead.

D/H is the fraction of urban housing in the United States which is

dilapidated; it essentially represents housing built before 1940. The

factor f is the fraction of all children aged 1 to 6 who live in such

housing and are likely to have elevated blood lead levels. C is the

total number of children aged 1 to 6 living in urban areas.

N = C x § x f

From summing the results of the above equation it is estimated that

more than one half million children have elevated blood lead levels.

This estimate is probably low because the model and estimate are based

on Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's) which represent

only urban areas.

3. Detection of Lead in Paint

The second area of research at NBS has been the identification and

evaluation of analytical methods for the detection and measurement of the

lead content of paints. Of the hundreds of chemical methods for the

analysis of lead only a few are applicable to the special problems encountered in the analysis of old embrittled paint films. The methods

studied by the Analytical Chemistry Division were spectrophotometry using

the dithizone procedure, atomic absorption, X-ray fluorescence using
both laboratory and portable instruments, electrochemical techniques

and spot and flame tests. Flame aspirated atomic absorption is a favored

technique used in several cities. It is extremely accurate and reliable,

but requires costly and time consuming preparation of the paint film before the analysis can be performed. A chemist aided by technicians can

analyze 50 to 100 paint chips a day using one atomic absorption instrument. If 20-40 paint samples are taken from each dwelling as is required

in some communities, only 2 to 3 dwellings would be screened per day at

that rate.

Portable X-ray fluorescence instruments have been used for some

time, in several cities, for detecting lead paint on-site. This technique is non-destructive and gives an immediate indication of the

presence of lead. The limit of detection of most of the portable X-ray

2 fluorescence analyzers is 1 mg/cm [6] . If one were to assume that a

2 single layer of paint weighs 10 mg/cm the detection limit would then be

equivalent to 10% lead in that single layer. If there were 10 layers

2 of paint in a paint chip then the 1 mg/cm detection limit would be

equivalent to 1% lead. The analyzers can be an effective tool for the

rapid screening of housing for relatively high contents of lead.

2 Surfaces containing 2 or more mg/cm of lead can quite reliably be detected and identified as presenting the greatest risk on a priority

basis. There still are needs however for rapid, sensitive, nondestructive portable techniques for the detection of lead in paint.
A standard paint sample has been prepared for use in calibrating

instruments used in lead measurement and for assisting laboratories to

determine their own capabilities for paint analysis. The reference

material is based on authentic lead paint chips obtained from the deleaded walls of houses in several cities. The powdered samples have

been analyzed and certified and are available to public and private

laboratories [7].

4. The Housing Problem

The Building Research Division's activities were concentrated in

two major areas. The first involved a study of the history

and extent of usage of leaded paints in housing. The second was concerned with an evaluation of methods that are currently available for the

elimination of the lead paint problem. The first area is obviously

quite important because of the extent of lead poisoning that has been

traced to the ingestion of lead paint.

Before the advent of modern protective coatings, houses were painted

with white-wash and calcimine—both of which were non-leaded materials.

Lead pigments were the first pigments produced on a large commercial

scale when the paint industry began its growth in the early 1900' s. Up

through the 20 's and 30 's the favorite paint of the housepainter was

pure white lead paste mixed with enough linseed oil to make it spreadable. In the 30' s factory mixed paints began to take greater shares of

the market, and lead pigments were replaced gradually with zinc and other

white opacifiers. In the 40' s, titanium dioxide became available and
because of the growth in popularity of latex paints it became the most

commonly used pigment for residential coatings. There was no regulation

of the use of leaded house paints until 1955, when the paint industry

adopted a voluntary standard [8] proposed by the American Standards

Association (now the American National Standards Institute) which

limited the lead content in paint for interior uses to no more than one

percent by weight of the non-volatile solids.

In recent years, a few cities have passed laws prohibiting the sale

and use of interior paints containing more than 1% Pb. Until PL 91-695

was passed in 1971, however, there was no nationwide law limiting the use

and/or sale of leaded paints. The use of titanium dioxide as a pigment

has increased markedly since its introduction, but it did not replace

white lead pigments Immediately. While the production of lead pigments

has declined steadily since the mid 1940' s, they have not yet been

completely removed from the market.

By analyzing the limited paint pigment and paint production data

available, a determination was made of the extent of both leaded and

non-leaded paint production in the United States over a period of years

as shown in figure 1. The analysis of leaded paints was limited to

those containing white lead and leaded zinc oxide as major pigments

because it was not possible to determine the usage of lead coloring

pigments in residential paints. Therefore, the estimates for leaded

paint production are moderately low. In those early years when the percentage of lead paint production was high, most of the paint intended

for residential use was leaded, and a significant percentage of the

house paint produced after 1950 also contained lead.

7
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200

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TOTAL

PAINT

PRODUCTION

TOTAL PAINT ^

PRODUCTION (EST.) ,*' \

TOTAL HOUSE PAINT

PRODUCTION (EST.)

TOTAL LEADED PAINT

PRODUCTION (EST)

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940

YEAR

1950 I960 1970

Figure 1. Paint Production Graph
Using paint production information, the numbers of dwelling units that

could have been painted with leaded and nonleaded paints were calculated

by multiplying the number of gallons of (leaded or unleaded) paint produced by the surface coverage per gallon and dividing that figure by the

average paintable surface area of a dwelling unit, which was estimated

to be 4200 square feet. A more realistic estimate can be made by assuming that the interior of a home is repainted every 3 years. Under those

circumstances an average area of 1400 square feet would then be painted

per year. Calculations using the 1400 square feet figure indicate as

shown in table 1 that the number of dwelling units probably painted

with leaded paints varied from about 11-1/2 million in 1939 to 0.4

million in 1967.

According to the 1960 housing census, more than 30 million of the

occupied housing units in use in 1960 were built prior to 1940. Of

these 30 million occupied housing units, 5-1/2 million were classified

as deteriorating and almost 2 million ad dilapidated. There are, then,

7 million dwelling units in the United States today that are in advanced

stages of disrepair, that probably contain lead paint and are an

Immediate hazard to the children living in them.

Apartment houses built in metropolitan areas between 1900 and 1930

were essentially old buildings by the 1950' s, with outdated plumbing,

electrical supply and heating systems. Families moving in and out with

increasing frequency showed little concern for the care of their rented

rooms. Absentee owners either shared that lack of concern or could not
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10
afford to match the rate of repair to the rate of collapse or destruction. Today those buildings number in the tens of thousands in the

ghettos of large cities. The interiors of the rooms in such housing are

scenes of cracked and falling plaster and peeling paint. In many of

those houses there are electrical, plumbing and structural code violations in addition to the lead paint problems. Extremely bad conditions

are likely to be found in areas that are constantly exposed to moisture

such as bathrooms and kitchens. Public areas such as halls and stairwells are often more dilapidated than apartment interiors when children

are allowed to play there unsupervised.

One solution to the lead paint poisoning problem is very simple;

eliminate the sources of lead that children can come in contact with.

This could be done very easily within the framework of existing technology, but with the cost of deleading a residence ranging from a few

hundred dollars up the thousands of dollars, and with millions of

dwelling units involved, the costs would be enormous.

Guidelines are needed to acquaint municipal planners and other

decision makers with the factors that should be considered in establishing programs to delead housing. Such guidelines should be of

particular value to those cities that have had no previous experience

in dealing with the problem. Questionnaires and worksheets are needed

to assist authorities to determine the source of the hazard, to determine the extent of the hazard, and to consider the factors that should

be evaluated in the process of choosing particular methods for deleading.

11
One performance requirement that must be considered above all

others, in making a decision about deleading, is that the method used

should reduce or eliminate the exposure of susceptible children to lead

poisoning. There are two basic technological procedures that can be used

to achieve the goal of hazard elimination. One is removal of all hazardous material, and the other is covering it up to make it inaccessible.

Only the complete application of one of the methods will make a residence

completely lead-free. If deleading is less than complete, the potential

recurrence of the problem due to continued accessibility of the residual

leaded material must be considered.

Four conditions of lead paint availability have been defined. Condition 1 is the immediate hazard of easily available leaded material that

may be lying around or blistering and peeling on reachable surfaces.

The easy access to any paint, plaster or sealant containing lead defines

this condition. Condition 2 is the immediate to potential hazard of

tightly adhered leaded material which is on chewable surfaces such as

window sills, moldings and door edges or which can otherwise be made

available by impact, scratching or gouging within the limits of a child's

reach. Condition 3 is the potential hazard of tightly adhering leaded

material which will apparently become loosened and available to the

child because of environmental conditions such as water leaks, condensation or some physical deterioration of the building. Condition 4 is the

unlikely hazard of tightly adhering leaded material apparently secure on

its surface with small possibility of it ever becoming available to a

child

.

12
In addition to the principal attribute of eliminating the accessibility of the hazard, there are secondary factors to be considered in

choosing deleading procedures which include:

Installation health and safety as it pertains to workmen.

Ancillary work including plumbing, electrical and heating system

changes that may be required

.

Waste disposal which becomes a major economic and health problem

when plaster walls are completely removed.

Community and user involvement which relates to the use of local

unskilled labor to carry out the deleading procedures and the acceptability of the work by the people in the community.

The degree of finish which also pertains to acceptability, durability and service life.

The cost of labor, materials, equipment and supportive costs inculding occupant relocation.

The time required to carry out deleading methods which also affects

cost and occupant relocation.

In-use performance which will affect long-range occupant health

and safety through the durability and stability of the procedure finally

decided upon.

Hazard accessibility is related to both the degree of hazard elimination and the deleading method used. For example: if only loose

leaded material and leaded material on chewable surfaces are removed,

then the remaining leaded material can become accessible when further

13
delamination occurs within a child's reach or when that tight material

becomes loosened due to natural causes such as moisture. If a covering

that can be torn away is used then the hazardous material beneath it is

once again made accessible.

Certain prerequisite conditions must be satisfied before some

hazard elimination techniques can be used. For example: if a flexible

wall covering were to be installed with an adhesive, then all the loose

and peeling paint and plaster would have to be removed. The remaining

surfaces would have to be free of moisture, oil and dirt. If rigid

boards were to be applied, there would be certain support requirements

that would have to be met, such as the planarity of supports and support

spacings for the new wall. Many of the available hazard removal techniques have health and safety problems associated with them. For

example: removing leaded paints by sanding or sand blasting produces a

poisonous leaded dust. Softening leaded paint with an open flame so that

it can be scraped off more easily creates a fire hazard in addition to

exposing workers to lead fumes. Certain procedures including putting up

wall board may require additional ancillary work to be done such as the

relocation of plumbing, electrical and heating fixtures.

In some cities, apartments and houses are being deleaded and rehabilitated by ripping out old plaster walls and replacing them with drywall or other rigid paneling systems. This process creates serious

waste disposal problems. If the paint and plaster are removed from the

walls and ceiling of a ten foot by ten foot room, there is going to be

almost 1,000 pounds of trash to dispose of. If there are as many as 20

14
layers of paint on the wall there may be 40 to 50 pounds of paint containing as much as 10 pounds of lead in that waste. If that is multiplied by 6 rooms one has 6,000 pounds of trash with 300 pounds of paint

and 60 pounds of lead. Multiply that again by 1,000 apartments and a

massive problem is created. If leaded waste is buried, lead may dissolve

in ground water and spread to adjoining areas. If it is burned in city

incinerators, lead will be dispersed into air that is already heavily

leaded. If it is left in the streets or alleys it is an even greater

hazard to the children from whose dwellings it was originally taken.

Some detoxification procedures leave the dwelling in a rough unfinished state unless further finish work is done. Other methods provide an attractive surface in the course of carrying out the method.

Gypsum board for example should be painted to improve its appearance, to

make it easy to clean and to improve its moisture resistance. Minimum

property levels should be established to try to ensure adequate in-use

performance of hazard elimination systems. With reference to occupant

health and safety, factors such as fire resistance, toxicity, mold

growth, and dirt collection resistance should be considered. Under durability and stability there are scratch, impact, abrasion, and moisture

resistance. The systems and materials used for hazard elimination

should be acceptable to the housing occupants. Factors such as washability and maintainability of the surface, acoustic properties; color;

and reflectance should be considered for this reason.

15
5. Conclusion

Very limited resources are now available to the cities for lead

paint poisoning control. Virtually all of their efforts are devoted to

finding and treating children who have dangerously high levels of lead

in their bodies. Widespread screening of housing and removal of the

hazard from all dwellings containing accessible leaded materials is not

economically feasible today but in view of the nature of the problem and

the disease, that approach offers the only realistic solution for

completely eliminating the problem.

Several temporary methods can be used to prevent accessibility to

lead paint. Loose or peeling paint can be scraped off walls, woodwork

and ceilings. Woodwork that a child may chew on can be covered with

contact paper or tape; holes and damaged plaster can be covered with

paper, cloth or cardboard using tape or paste to hold the patches. Lead

paint can be removed by sanding or scraping. The paint can be softened

with chemical solvents or heat to facilitate scraping. Lead paint can

be covered up with more permanent rigid materials such as gypsum board,

hardboard or plywood. Membrane type materials such as fabrics, liquid

plastics, wall paper or veneer plaster can be used to cover up lead paint

(only if the walls are in good condition)

.

The primary criterion for the selection of a hazard removal method

is how well it performs in eliminating the hazard from the child's environment. Next to that consideration, cost is probably of greatest

importance in the final selection of a method. Cost data can be obtained

16
in two ways: first by a survey of current practice in cities with lead

poisoning control programs and secondly by direct analysis of the labor,

material, equipment and other costs associated with the various hazard

elimination methods. The lead paint elimination costs and rehabilitation

costs currently available from New York City and Chicago are expressed

in terms of total cost per dwelling unit or total cost per square foot of

treated surface. (New York and Chicago estimate deleading costs at $1

per square foot.) Costs presented in that format are useful as "rule of

thumb" budget estimates but they cannot be used as comprehensive source

data for the evaluation of the cost effectiveness of each deleading

method. Even with data presented on a square footage basis it is still

difficult to predict what an average dwelling unit cost would be. The

most obvious problems in cost analyses are the variation in dwelling unit

size and the amount of supportive work to be done. Another important

element, is the lack of knowledge of what constitutes adequate deleading.

Research is continuing to obtain a better definition of that point.

The hazard of lead paint is defined by two factors:

1) the presence of toxic quantities of lead based materials on walls,

ceilings or woodwork and

2) the deteriorated condition of those surfaces that makes the

leaded material accessible to a child who has pica (the desire to eat

unnatural foods).

It is obvious that priorities must be set for the deleading

of hazardous dwellings. The cities that currently have lead poisoning

control programs justifiably require as a first priority the deleading of the homes of children who have lead poisoning. The second

17
priority should be assigned to the housing that contains lead and is in

advanced stages of deterioration. A low priority should be given to

housing that contains lead but is well maintained and does not present

an immediate hazard.

Consideration must also be given to new or other housing not yet

containing the lead paint hazard. Limiting lead in currently manufactured paints and coatings will not materially affect the incidence of

poisoning of children who eat dried paint in deteriorated housing. But

it will accomplish the removal of the hazard of lead in paints for future

generations. Since 1950 several cities have passed ordinances which

provide some control over the use or sale of leaded paints. Some cities

ban the sale or use of leaded paints for interior surfaces of dwelling

units. Others only require that paints containing greater than a certain

lead level bear an adequate label that warns against its use on surfaces

accessible to children. Under Title IV of PL 91-695, the Secretary of

HEW is directed "to take such steps and impose such conditions as may be

necessary or appropriate to prohibit the use of lead based paint in

residential structures constructed or rehabilitated by the Federal

government, or with Federal assistance in any form."

The more we learn about lead paint poisoning the more we recognize

that lead pollution is a major environmental problem that should be of

great concern to all of us. The sources of the lead hazard are air,

water, food and industrial wastes as well as lead paint. The child who

is a potential victim because he lives in bad housing needs more than

18
pica to become a victim in fact. Social, economic, biological and geographical factors also contribute to lead poisoning. The destructive

consequences of this disease are not only medical but obviously social

and economic as well. The problem is cyclic —the consequences of lead

poisoning establish the base for the problem to confron the next generation of children living in the same, if not worsening, environment. A

concerted national effort is required to eradicate this disease—the

cooperation of all levels of government is needed no less than the cooperation of all of the technical competences that relate to the

problem. The medical people must find better ways to detect and treat

lead poisoning. The scientists and engineers, both hard and soft, must

show us how to solve the human and environmental problems. And finally,

but most importantly, local, state and Federal governments must find the

way to implement those solutions.

19
6. References

[1] Gilsinn, J., Estimates of Nature and Extent of Lead Paint Poisoning

in the United States, National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 746.

[2] Byers, R. K. , Lead Poisoning: Review of the Literature and Report

on 45 Cases, Pediatrics 23 (March 1959).

[3] Lead-Based Paint Poisoning, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on

Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States

Senate, Ninety-First Congress Second Session (November 23, 1970).

[4] To Provide Federal Assistance for Eliminating the Causes of LeadBased Paint Poisoning, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Housing

of the Committee on Banking and Currency, House of Representatives,

Ninety-first Congress Second Session (July 22-23, 1970).

[5] Memorandum of Understanding Between the Secretary of Housing and

Urban Development and the Secretary of Commerce (July 23, 1970).

[6] Rasberry, S. D., Investigation of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence

Analyzers for Determining Lead on Painted Surfaces, National

Bureau of Standards. To be published in March 1973 issue of

Applied Spectroscopy.

[7] NBS Standard Reference Material No. 1579, Powdered Lead-Based Paint.

[8] American Standards Specifications to Minimize Hazards to Children

from Residual Surface Coating Materials, Z66. 1-1964.

20
|form NBS-114A 11-71) U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO. NBS TN-7592. Gov't Accession No.

3. Recipient's Accession No.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The NBS Lead Paint Poisoning Project: Housing and Other

Aspects

5. Publication Date February 1973

6. Performing Organization Code

7. AUTHOR(S)

Harvey W. Berger

8. Performing Organization

10. Ptoject/Task/Work Unit No. 4608400

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

11. Contract/Grant No.

12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address Department of Housing and Urban Development

451 7th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20410

13. Type of Report & Period Covered Final.

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant bibliography or literature survey, mention it here.) The National Bureau of Standards is providing technical support required by

the Department of Housing and Urban Development to carry out its research responsibilities under PL 91-695, The Lead Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. The program at NBS has involved three major areas of research: (1) an estimation of

the numbers of children at risk and with excessive body burdens of lead and the geographical distribution of those children; (2) the capabilities and characteristics of analytical methods for the detection of lead in paint and other building

materials and (3) the identification and evaluation of materials, techniques and systems for removing or eliminating the lead paint hazard from housing. This paper is a brief presentation of the activities and conclusions of NBS in the areas listed above.

17. KEY WORDS (Alphabetical order, separated by semicolons)

Hazard elimination; lead analysis; lead paint; lead poisoning.

18. AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

LX] UNLIMITED.

I I FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT RELEASE

TO NTIS.

19. SECURITY CLASS

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UNCLASSIFIED

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21. NO. OF PAGES

25

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