Cadmium and Lead Levels in House Dust from Smokers' and Non-Smokers' Homes Related to Nicotine Levels

Abstract

In children there is an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and blood lead levels. One possible explanation is a contamination of house dust by cigarette ash and smoke, since several studies have shown that house dust is a source of lead exposure. Thus, house dust samples from the vacuum cleaner sacks from 72 homes in the city of Copenhagen were ana lysed for cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). The lead concentration was higher in fine than in coarse fraction (medians 190 vs. 140 μg/g; p = 0.0001). For cad mium the median concentrations were 5.0 μg/g in both fractions. No statisti cally significant association was found between the smoking habits, the socio- economic status of the residents, the presence of wall-to-wall carpets, or dust nicotine levels, on the one hand, and the metal levels in the house dust, on the other. Thus, tobacco is not an important source of contamination of house dust with lead and cadmium. However, high levels found in some samples indicate that house dust may be a significant source of lead and cadmium exposure, in some small children.