Lead speciation in house dust from Canadian urban homes using EXAFS, micro-XRF, and micro-XRD

X-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, micro-X-ray fluorescence (μXRF), and micro-X-ray diffraction (μXRD) were used to determine the speciation of Pb in house dust samples from four Canadian urban homes having elevated Pb concentrations (>1000 mg Pb kg(-1)). Linear combination fitting of the XAFS data, supported by μXRF and μXRD, shows that Pb is complexed in a variety of molecular environments, associated with both the inorganic and organic fractions of the dust samples. The inorganic species of lead identified were as follows: Pb metal, Pb carbonate, Pb hydroxyl carbonate, Pb oxide, and Pb adsorbed to iron oxyhydroxides. Pb carbonate and/or Pb hydroxyl carbonate occurred in all four dust samples and accounted for 28 to 75% of total Pb. Pb citrate and Pb bound to humate were the organic species identified. The results of this study demonstrate the ability of XAFS to identify Pb speciation in house dust and show the potential to identify Pb sources from new homes versus older homes. Understanding Pb speciation and how it influences bioaccessibility is important for human health risk assessment and risk management decisions which aim to improve indoor environmental health.