Control of lead emissions from a battery repair shop in the city of Rio de Janeiro using the air as indicator

Lead levels in the air surrounding a battery repair shop (BRS) located in the Olaria neighborhood (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) were monitored from April to July 1999. Most of the samples collected within 25 meters of the BRS exceeded the limit of 1.5 micro g.Pb.m-3 established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These results were published in a previous article (Quiterio et al., 2001). In the current study, installation of a Venture ventilation system and some changes in the operational procedure were proposed. After the modifications in the BRS, a new monitoring campaign was performed (August and September, 2000). Three points were selected for air collection, corresponding to the most critical points found in the previous assessments. The new concentrations ranged from 0.8 to 17.6 micro g.Pb.m-3, showing that lead emissions into the environment had decreased adequately. However, concentration at the chimney exhaust was still higher than EPA limits, and further improvements in the installations and procedures are definitely needed.