Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / BACKGROUND: Lead dust in homes is the primary route of lead ingestion for children. More and more evidence concludes that levels of lead <10 !g/dl, which once was thought to be safe, can cause permanant neurological effects and damage. Lead exposure and toxicity is hard to treat because of the negative side effects of the chelating agents. The focus should be on prevention.
OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to conduct a study to see if window replacements and/or window repairs will significantly decrease the lead levels in low income housing homes. This study is collaboration between HUD, weatherization groups, and public health departments.
DESIGN/METHODS: We performed statistical analyses of lead loading result data that was collected on the field. Compared the lead loading results for each sample location in each unit before and after window repair (Cohort 2), window replacement (Cohort 1), and no treatment for the control group (Cohort 3). The analyses were completed using a two sample matched pair z test and a significance level of 0.05. The control group was used to measure variance and to see if the difference is statistically significant.
RESULTS: There appears to be a statistically significant reduction in the mean loading results in the Window Repair Cohort 2 across both Phase 1 to 2 (z=-2.63) and Phase 1 to 3 (z= -3.10). There was not a statitistically significant reduction in the mean loading result of the samples in the Window Replacement Cohort 1 across Phase 1 to 3 (z=-1.3), and there surprisingly appears to be an increase in mean loading result of the samples across Phase 1 to Phase 2 (z= 1.65). There was a significant decrease in loading results throughout Phase 1 to 2 and Phase 1 to 3 for the Control Group Cohort 3.
CONCLUSIONS: There is sufficient evidence to suggest that window repair will decrease lead dust levels in homes. According to our preliminary results window replacement decreases the average lead loading results by 43.6%, while window repairs decreased the average lead loading result by 97.4%. While this supports our hypothesis, the increase in lead loading results after a short time window replacement is unexpected. Further studies should be implemented to prevent high lead levels directly after weatherization and provide regulations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/12130 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Kadakia, Rachna P. |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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