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Table 1 Household testing protocol

From: Participatory testing and reporting in an environmental-justice community of Worcester, Massachusetts: a pilot project

Indicators

medium

location

materials/methods

MDL2

frequency

result type

1. lead

drinking water

faucet

Water in pipes 6 hours. First-draw sample, then ran the water 60 secs for purged-line sample Used 2 1 L nalgenes. Fill 50 mL small bottles, send to lab (Environmental Quality Institute, Asheville, NC). Lab analysis by EPA Method 200.9, Determination of Trace Elements by Stabilized Temperature Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption. Rev 2.2, 1994.

1 ppb

once per home

level in ppb

2. lead

indoor paint

living spaces

LeadCheck® by Hybrivet Systems of Natick, Mass. Touch swabs in six locations, cut beyond surface layer.

1 μg

six locations esp. child contact areas

presence/absence

3. lead

dust

floors, window sills

Followed Mass. Dept. Env. Protect. Dust Wipe Collection Protocol. Tested three rooms in each home. Dust wipe and a floor wipe in each home. Blank wipe with each home and a spiked wipe in every three homes. Sent to EHS Labs (Richmond VA) for analysis. Analysis by EPA method SW846, 7420.

0.1 μg/ft2

7 per home: 3 windowsills 3 floors 1 blank

level in μg/ft2

4. lead

outdoor soil

yard, garden

Followed Worcester Roots protocol. Chose two areas outside to test. Usually a garden and drip line. Took four composite samples in each testing area. Combined the four composites from testing areas #1 into one bag and four composites from testing areas #2 into another bag. Lab analysis by Clark University using ICP-AES3.

1 mg/kg

2 areas per home

level in ppm

5. radon

indoor air

basement

Used Pro-Lab ® Radon liquid scintillation gas detection canisters. Followed company protocol. Placed canister in basement, away from windows, three feet off the ground. Left for 48+ hours. Sent to Pro-Lab (Weston, FL) for analysis.

0.1 pCi/L

once per home

level in pCi/L

6. PM2.5

indoor air

living spaces

DustScan Scout 3020 nephelometer (Rupprecht and Patashnick, East Greenbush NY). Optical scattering method.

1 μg/m3

Once per room, 30-minute duration

time series, μg/m3

7. suspended mold spores 1

indoor air, outdoor air

living spaces

CyClex Bioaerosol Impact Sampler, (Environmental Monitoring Systems Inc. Charleston, SC). Rate 20-lpm for 8-10 mins. Impact slide mailed to EMSL Analytical Inc. for analysis of non-viable (non-living) spores1. Analysis by real-time PCR4.

1 count per m3

once inside (pilot) once inside and outside (phase II)

Total spore counts per m3 air, ID of spore types

8. Various

drinking water

kitchen sink, bathroom sink

Parameters (MDL)2: lead (< 15 ppb), total chlorine (< 4 ppm), pesticides (atrazine < 3 ppb, simazine < 4 ppb), total nitrate/nitrite (< 10.0 ppm), nitrite (< 1.0 ppm), bacteria, pH, hardness. WaterSafe® drinking water test (Silver Lake Research Corporation, Monrovia, CA). MDLs are less than USEPA maximum contaminant levels or guideline values as shown.

As shown left in ()

once per home

presence/absence or colorimetric

9. moisture

indoor moisture

walls, floors

Tramex Moisture Encounter Plus moisture meter (Tramex, Littleton, CO). Wood level on % scale, brick, plaster, drywall on relative scale.

-

variable (0 to 20) per home

% saturation (wood), comparative (plaster etc.)

10. CO sensor

n/a

indoors

Testing of visibility and operation.

n/a

Once per home

visual and audio detection

11. visual survey

various

indoors and outdoors

Indicators: deteriorated paint indoors/outdoors; bare soil; cockroaches; rodents; holes in walls; mold/mildew; water damage; strong musty smell; natural gas/sewer gas smell; un-vented gas oven/dryer/heater/stove.

n/a

Once per home

presence/absence

  1. 1 includes: agrocybe, alternaria, ascospore, aspergillus, basidiospores, bipolaris, chaetomium, cladosporium, curvularia, epicoccum, fusarium, ganoderma, myxomycetes, odium, paecilomyces, pithomyces, rusts, scopulariopsis, stachybotrys, taeniolella, torula, ulocladium and zygomycetes.
  2. 2 method detection limits; 3 ICP-AES - inductively-coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy; PCR - polymer chain reaction.