ASTM E1644 - 04

Standard Practice for Hot Plate Digestion of Dust Wipe Samples for the Determination of Lead

This standard is a part of ASTM Book of Standards Volume 04.11

Annotation and contents

Source of this annotation and contents: ASTM International.

Significance and Use

This practice is intended for the digestion of lead in dust wipe samples collected during various lead hazard activities performed in and around buildings and related structures.

This practice is also intended for the digestion of lead in dust wipe samples collected during and after building renovations.

This practice is applicable to the digestion of dust wipe samples that have or have not been collected in accordance with Practice E 1728 using wipes that may or may not conform to Specification E 1792.

This practice is applicable to the digestion of dust wipe samples that were placed in either hard-walled, rigid containers such as 50-mL centrifuge tubes or flexible plastic bags.

Note 2—Due to the difficulty in performing quantitative transfers of some samples from plastic bags, hard-walled rigid containers such as 50-mL plastic centrifuge tubes are recommended for sample collection.

Digestates prepared according to this practice are intended to be analyzed for lead concentration using spectrometric techniques such as Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS) (see Test Method E 1613), or using electrochemical techniques such as anodic stripping voltammetry (see Practice E 2051).

This practice is not capable of determining lead bound within matrices, such as silica, that are not soluble in nitric acid.

This practice is capable of determining lead bound within paint.

1. Scope

1.1 This practice covers the acid digestion of surface dust samples (collected using wipe sampling practices) and associated quality control (QC) samples for the determination of lead.

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.

1.3 This practice contains notes which are explanatory and not part of mandatory requirements of the standard.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.


2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

D1129 Terminology Relating to Water
D1193 Specification for Reagent Water
E1605 Terminology Relating to Lead in Buildings
E1613 Test Method for Determination of Lead by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS), or Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS) Techniques
E1724 Guide for Testing and Certification of Metal and Metal-Related Reference Materials
E1728 Practice for Collection of Settled Dust Samples Using Wipe Sampling Methods for Subsequent Lead Determination
E1792 Specification for Wipe Sampling Materials for Lead in Surface Dust
E2051 Practice for the Determination of Lead in Paint, Settled Dust, Soil and Air Particulate by Field-Portable Electroanalysis
E2239 Practice for Record Keeping and Record Preservation for Lead Hazard Activities

Other Documents

NIOSHManualofAnalyti NIOSH 7082 and 7105, Eller, P.M., Ed., 3rd ed., 1984


Index Terms

digestion; lead; sample preparation; wipes;



ICS Code

ICS Number Code 13.040.99 (Other standards related to air quality); 71.040.50 (Physicochemical methods of analysis)



DOI: 10.1520/E1644-04

ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.


Alternate designation

  • ASTM E 1644
  • ASTM E1644-04
  • ASTM E 1644-04