Determination of lead dust fall rates during deconstruction of wood frame buildings in an urban region in the Northeastern United States

Syracuse, NY

Title: Lead dust fall deposition rates during deconstruction of wood frame buildings in an urban region in the Northeastern United States. Objectives: Determine the lead dust fall deposition rate due to hybrid deconstruction (separation and removal of building components) of wood-frame structures, and compare that to the lead dust fall deposition rate from demolition (compression and collapse of building components). Scope: A city block with a total of 11 wood-frame structures was selected as the location for the deconstruction leadfall testing. Testing was done during the deconstruction of 7 of the 11 pre-1950 homes (mean construction year 1928, mean floor area 283 square meter). Method: During deconstruction, the lead deposition rate was measured by using the modified APHA 502 method (Mucha et al. 2009). Findings: The geometric mean deposition rate for the lead dust fall at the property perimeter from the houses using deconstruction was 61.3 ug/sg m/hr. Published values for deposition rates from demolition in Chicago (Jacobs, et al. 2013) are 59.0 and 152 ug/sq m/hr for homes with and without the use of dust suppression. The deposition rate during hybrid deconstruction is similar to the deposition rate during demolition when dust suppression is employed. Implications: Many older urban areas have abandoned buildings containing lead-based paint. Governments in these regions invest in removing these buildings, using a variety of methods. To avoid further lead contamination in the soil surrounding these buildings, methods which minimize the total lead dust fall must be employed. The proper quantification and evaluation of these methods will help policy makers with their decisions.

https://surface.syr.edu/ibpc/2018/BE9/1