Cleaning Areas 
Lead dust comes from opening and closing windows and other friction surfaces painted with 
old lead-based paint. Syracuse, therefore, recommends focusing wet cleaning efforts on areas 
such as old windows, floors, and play areas. These areas should be cleaned at least once a week 
or whenever they appear dirty, because windows can continually generate lead paint chips and 
dust on their sills and wells. In addition, lead dust can get on the bottom of shoes by walking 
on bare soil. This can occur if the exterior housepaint is chipping and releasing lead dust onto 
porch areas or other outside surfaces. The Syracuse Lead Dust Project provides residents with 
information to help them target their cleaning efforts on areas where lead dust tends to accu¬ 
mulate in their specific living units. 
Materials 
In addition to the HEPA vacuum, other useful items are a household cleaning agent (such as 
dishwashing soap), waterproof gloves, disposable rags or towels (preferably paper towels), buck¬ 
ets, and trash bags for disposing of any lead dust debris. The following cleaning agents can be 
found in local grocery or hardware stores and are suggested by the Syracuse Lead Dust Project: 
• Pine-Sol 
• Liquid Tide 
• Cascade (granular dishwasher formula) 
• Spic and Span 
• Lead Clean 
Cleaning Process 
Once proper cleaning materials and a HEPA vacuum are obtained, removing lead dust and lead 
debris from homes involves a few simple steps. In Syracuse, the coordinator meets with each 
resident to explain the following cleaning procedure and to answer any potential questions: 
Step 1: Vacuum. Use a vacuum cleaner equipped with a HEPA exhaust filter. Vacuum all sur¬ 
faces in the room (e.g., ceilings, walls, trim, and floors). Start with the ceiling and work down, 
while moving toward the entry door. Work from the back of the house or apartment and move 
toward the main exit and finish there. Be sure to move slowly to ensure that the HEPA vacuum 
can pick up all the lead dust. Use attachments, such as extension hoses, straight tubes, brushes, 
crevice tools, and angular tools, to reach surfaces other than floors, including ceilings, light fix¬ 
tures, radiators, built-in cabinets, and appliances. Pay close attention to surfaces such as window 
troughs, porous concrete, old porous hardwood floors, and the corners of rooms, as they require 
additional vacuuming to achieve an acceptable reduction in lead dust. 
Step 2: Wet-clean. Wear plastic or rubber gloves. Wash all surfaces with a lead-specific deter¬ 
gent, high-phosphate detergent, or other suitable cleaning agent to dislodge any ground-in con¬ 
tamination; then rinse. Wash the ceiling first and then proceed to the floors; plan the work so 
you avoid passing through any rooms that have already been cleaned. Be careful not to scrub so 
hard as to remove any intact paint. Consider using three separate buckets: one for the cleaning 
solution, one for the clean rinse water, and one empty one, into which you can squeeze the 
dirty sponge or rag when using the cleaning solution. Use a new batch of cleaning mixture for 
A lthough high-phosphate detergents such 
as trisodium phosphate (TSP) are effec¬ 
tive, certain states have restricted the use of TSP 
because of environmental concerns. TSP also is a 
skin and eye irritant and must be used with cau¬ 
tion. Non-TSP detergents developed for lead dust 
removal are available at some hardware stores. 
Mitigation and Maintenance 
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