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pROtt°	Nebraska	October 2003

Questions & Answers
About Indoor Dust Sampling by EPA

Omaha Lead Site, Omaha, Nebraska

INTRODUCTION

EPA is asking a limited number of
property owners to let the Agency collect
dust samples from inside their houses to
make sure that all sources of lead are
considered. Sampling takes about one
hour of a resident's time, taking samples
from three to four rooms in the house.
EPA has partnered with the University of
Nebraska at Omaha to ask a series of
questions during the sampling to better
understand how daily household activities
might be affected by lead. All EPA's
efforts - past, present, and future - are to
protect the children of Omaha at no cost
to the homeowner. The data will be used
to develop a risk assessment report
available for public review.

BACKGROUND

The Omaha Lead site includes surface
soils at residential properties, child care
facilities, schools, and similar properties in
eastern Omaha, which is in Douglas
County, Nebraska. The site covers 8,840
acres, with an estimated 65,615 residents.

The Omaha City Council asked EPA In
1998 to look into why there were more
children with elevated levels of lead in
their blood in east Omaha than anywhere
else in Douglas County. EPA responded
by using its authority under the Superfund
law to begin an investigation. Much of the
investigation has been sampling soil
outside homes. EPA has tested the
surface soils of 12,500 residential

properties, finding that about 40 percent
had some lead contamination.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT
DUST SAMPLING

Q. Why does EPA need to test the dust
inside the house if all the lead is in the soil
outside?

A. Young children are the most
sensitive to lead contamination. There
are many sources of lead in the
environment, one of them being house
dust. EPA wants to test house dust to
see how much it contributes to children's
lead exposure.

Q. Why would there be lead in house
dust?

A. Lead comes from a variety of
sources, including lead-based paint, lead
pipes, and lead-contaminated soil
resulting from industrial emissions,
automobile exhausts and other sources.
Soil tracked in from outside by people and
pets can be a key contributor.

Q. Is the lead concentration in house
dust the same as the concentration in
yard soil?

A. Soil and dust lead concentrations are
usually different from each other. Some
lead in house dust may come from
sources inside the house, such as lead-
based paint.


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Q. I don't have any children who are six
years of age or younger, so why would
EPA want to test the dust in my house?

A. EPA wants to understand the risks of
lead contamination in Omaha. This
requires EPA to look at many homes to
get a representative sample of what the
lead concentrations are in soil and house
dust. Children may not live at the
property now, but they could in the future.
EPA is planning to collect dust samples
from several hundred homes throughout
the urban area east of 45th Street. The
combined data will help EPA and the
Nebraska Department of Health & Human
Services calculate a lead level that would
protect human health in Omaha.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

EPA recommends that you contact the
Douglas County Health Department at
402-444-7489 if you live in Douglas
County and suspect that someone in your
home has elevated blood lead levels.

Free testing is available for any child
between the ages of six months and six
years.

EPA'S COMMITMENT TO OMAHA

EPA is a committed partner that will
inform, assist, and listen to the Omaha
community so that we can collectively
protect our most precious resource ... our
children!

	

OTHER QUESTIONS

Questions about this fact sheet or any
lead-related activities in Omaha can
be addressed to:

Debbie Kring
Community Involvement
Coordinator

Office of External Programs
EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
krinq.debbie@epa.gov
913-551-7003 or 800-223-0425

Or

Don Bahnke
Project Manager
Superfund Division
EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
bahnke.donald@epa.gov
913-551-7747 or 800-223-0425

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