Dust Up

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday April 7, 2005

Lynne Dwyer

LEAD ALERT

9799 7605, www.leadalert.com.au

City living has its highs: the culture, the people, the buzz, the coffee. It also has its lows: the noise, the planes, the billboards, the grunge. Easter spent in the country highlighted what we city types put up with in the way of pollution. Back home, Trade Secrets saw afresh the black traffic grime settled on the window sills - but what couldn't be seen?

If you live in an older house, your ceiling cavity probably contains high levels of lead, caused by a build-up of particles in the dust. Lead testing has shown that in some suburbs there are more than 60 times the safe limit of 300 particles a million.

"People are getting more aware of the dangers of dust - it's not just lead; there's all sorts of stuff up there," says Gavin Clarke of Lead Alert, a company that specialises in cleaning roof cavities.

Apart from lead, ceiling dust can contain pesticides, chemical pollutants, dung from rats, mice and cockroaches, asbestos particles, allergy-causing dust mites, and lice from bird nests.

"This company came into being [in 1996] when they opened the third runway," Clarke says.

"When they were putting in all the noise insulation, they realised when they went into the roof there was so much dust in all those areas. So we got a machine that would take out the dust [safely] ... The EPA [Environment Protection Authority] had air-monitors there to make sure that we weren't just taking the lead dust out of the roof and blowing it down

the street."

Lead Alert uses a trailer-mounted machine called a safety vac, with a HEPA-filter that discharges pure air. The dust is collected in a drum on the machine and is disposed of, drum and all, at an EPA-approved toxic-waste centre.

Clarke says the cost will depend on the suburb (some have higher lead levels than others), the depth and type of debris, whether old insulation needs to be removed, ease of access to the roof and the size of the area to be cleaned.

He does quotes on-site. For an average two- to three-bedroom house, the cost could be about $800, and the task will take about five hours.

Clarke had his own attic cleaned 18 months ago. "My kids [five-year-old twin boys] are asthmatic and it has made a huge difference [to their health]. They don't cough as much, they don't seem to have asthma as much," he says.

"People talk about sick-house syndrome ... this is perhaps not the cure for it, but it's one of the ways to clean up whatever is causing the problem."

The company also installs insulation and aircraft-noise-reduction acoustic batts.

MOST REQUESTED SERVICE

Dust-extraction from

roof cavities.

DETAILS

The Builders Information Centre in Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, has details about vacuuming attics or, for more information on lead pollution, go to the

Lead Advisory Service website at www.theleadgroup.com.au

Trader's tip

When renovating your house, start at the top. If you're adding a second storey or installing skylights, downlights, attic ladders or insulation there is a risk of contaminating your living area with lead dust.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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