Specialized Cleaning
Exposure to lead-contaminated dust is the number one cause of childhood lead poisoning.
Because of its sticky nature, lead dust can be difficult to remove. To make matters
even more challenging, the particles of lead that make up lead-contaminated dust
are often so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. These microscopic particles
are easily ingested by a child who comes into contact with the lead dust while crawling
on the floor, grasping window sills, playing with unwashed toys that happen to have
lead-contaminated dust on them, or any number of other ways that cause contact with
this harmful substance. Once the sticky lead is on the child's fingers, it normally
does not take long before those fingers are in the child's mouth. Hand-to-mouth
activities are a normal, everyday part of a typical child's early years, when they
frequently explore the world with their fingers and their mouth—and it takes only
a tiny amount to cause an elevated blood-lead level.
The cleanup of lead-contaminated dust does not involve technically difficult
steps, but to be effective, it takes a lot of time, concentration, and attention
to detail. To maximize effectiveness, it also takes the use of a HEPA
(High-Efficiency Particulate Air) vacuum. This specially equipped vacuum cleaner
traps lead particles inside the unit and prevents their release out the back of
the vacuum, as would happen if an ordinary vacuum cleaner were used instead of one
equipped with a HEPA filter.
The first step in the specialized cleaning of lead-contaminated dust is to use the
HEPA vacuum, running it very slowly over the surface to be cleaned, carefully ensuring
that no spot is missed. The cleaning of carpets should be a particularly slow-paced,
careful process. After the surface has been thoroughly HEPA vac'ed, specialized
cleaning continues with wet methods.
This specialized cleaning technique involves use of a multi-bucket method. One bucket
should contain a mix of hot water and either a lead-specific cleaning agent or a
detergent. (Detergents that contain phosphates may be more effective in cleaning
lead-contaminated dust.) A second bucket should contain hot rinse water, and a third
bucket should also contain hot water. After first dipping a mop into the detergent
water mix, vigorously mop up a small portion of floor, and rinse the mop by squeezing
it in the second bucket. Then dip the mop in the third bucket, to ensure it is completely
clean before dipping it again into the first bucket containing the cleaning solution.
Clean the second portion of floor and continue this cycle until the room has been
completely mopped. Periodically change the water in each of the two rinse buckets.
If the bucket containing the cleaning solution looks like it needs to be changed
as well, do so. Remember that surfaces should be scrubbed in one direction
(left to right, or right to left) only, rather than with a back-and-forth motion.
Similarly, all vertical surfaces—such as walls, window trim, and stairs—should be
cleaned from the top on down.
Once cleaning with detergent has been completed for a given room, it is time to
rinse, using only clean water and preferably a new mop head. After this final wet-cleaning
stage, the HEPA vacuum should be used again over each cleaned surface.
The same bucket method should be used for smaller surfaces and components such as
window sills and wells, radiators, door tops, sides and bottoms, steps, as well
as anywhere else lead dust may have been deposited. Instead of a mop, use a rag,
a sponge, or paper towels for such smaller surfaces. No matter what is used to clean
the lead dust, it requires strength and attention to detail. Surfaces should be
scrubbed with vigor, in one direction only, and with great care to be thorough.
