Prevalence and Predictors of Residential Health Hazards: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This article reports the results of a pilot study designed to ascertain the prevalence of lead-based paint (LBP), vermin, mold, and safety conditions and hazards and to validate observations and self-reports against environmental sampling data. Data are based on a convenience sample of 70 dwellings in a low-income, urban neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The vast majority of residences (96%) contained multiple conditions and/or hazards: LBP hazards (80%), vermin (79%), elevated levels of airborne mold (39%), and safety hazards (100%). Observations and occupant reports were associated with environmental sampling data. In general, the more proximate an observed condition was to an actual hazard, the more likely it was to be associated with environmental sampling results (e.g., peeling LBP was associated with windowsill dust lead levels, and cockroach sightings by tenants were associated with Blatella germanica [Bla g 1] levels). Conversely, the more distal an observed condition was to an actual hazard, the less likely it was to be associated with environmental sampling results (e.g., water damage, alone, was not statistically associated with elevated levels of dust lead, Bla g 1, or airborne mold). Based on the findings from this pilot study, there is a need for industrial hygienists and others to adopt more comprehensive and integrative approaches to residential hazard assessment and remediation. Further research—using larger, randomly drawn samples, representing a range of housing types and geographical areas—is needed to clarify the relationship between readily observable conditions, occupant reports, and environmental sampling data and to assess the cumulative impact on human health.

Keywords:

• healthy homes
• residential hazards
• visual assessment

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Healthy Homes Initiative staff and program participants.

The Bedford Stuyvesant Healthy Homes Initiative was funded in part by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control and by the New York City Council Speaker's Fund for Public Health Research.

Notes

^A Source: U.S. Census, 1980 data as provided by Infoshare, Online.

^A Any observed peeling paint.

^B ≥ 1.0 mg/cm².

^C ≥ 40 μ g/ft² and ≥250 μ g/ft² on floors and window sills, respectively. The arithmetic mean (AM) and geometric mean (GM) dust lead levels were 39.9 μ g/ft² and 8.4, respectively, for floors; and 409.9 μ g/ft² and 126.3, respectively, for window sills. The geometric standard deviations (GSDs) were 5.8 and 5.0, for floors and window sills, respectively.

^D Based on 35 dwellings where airborne mold was sampled.

^E Total airborne mold ≥1000 CFU/m³. The AM and GM mean airborne mold levels were 959.2 and 566.8 CFU/m³, respectively.

^F Bla g 1 ≥ 2 U/g for the unit mean of the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. The AM and GM Bla g 1 level was 2.9 and 0.6 U/g, respectively.

^G Safety hazards included any of the following: missing smoke detector(s), n = 39 (6%); missing fire safety plan, n = 53 (76%); missing/nonfunctioning fire extinguishe, n = 50 (71%); missing window guard(s), n = 46 (66%); or the presence of an electrical safety hazard (overloaded extensions cords, inappropriately placed wiring, outlets in need of cover plates), n = 18 (26%).