Blood test results show no elevated lead levels for 29 Allegheny County Health Department employees working in a Lawrenceville office building where there are high lead dust levels on windowsills and furniture.

Bruce Dixon, county health department executive director, said Thursday the test results show none of the tested employees have been harmed by the lead dust in Building One, a 90-year-old, three-story brick building on the corner of Penn Avenue and 40th Street that has been poorly maintained and is undergoing renovations.

According to an e-mail sent Wednesday by Dr. Dixon to 29 employees in Building One who submitted to the voluntary lead blood test last month, 27 have lead blood levels less than 3 micrograms per deciliter -- the lowest result the test registers. One employee tested at 4 micrograms per deciliter and one at 5 micrograms per deciliter.

Adult blood lead levels above 25 micrograms per deciliter are considered elevated, though Dr. Dixon acknowledges in his e-mail that the normal lead level for adults is the subject of ongoing scientific debate. Recent research indicates that adults with even low lead blood levels can experience hypertension, anemia, impaired brain function, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

A lower blood lead level of 10 micrograms per deciliter in children prompts public health interventions even though children can experience harmful effects at lower levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The employee blood samples were taken in the county's tuberculosis program office on the first floor of Building One and analyzed by Quest Laboratories, an independent national testing service.

"This supports our feeling that there is no human health effect from the lead in the building," Dr. Dixon wrote in the e-mail. "As you know, lead is present in almost all buildings constructed prior to the 1960s throughout the country. We are committed to continuing to 'clean up' the building, however, and will work as quickly as possible to do so, but I want to assure you that there is no health risk associated with working there."

A total of 44 employees work in the building plus, three county painters-maintenance workers. The blood lead level test results for the painters were not included in the e-mail report by Dr. Dixon, even though at least one painter did take the blood test.

Nina Ewall, an inspector in the county lead poisoning prevention program with an office on the second floor of Building One, said the test results are "great news" for the employees tested, but she remains concerned because of the high levels of lead dust in the building.

Wipe sample tests Ms. Ewall did beginning last February on windowsills and window wells in several second- and third-floor offices all found very high levels of lead in the dust. One of those tests found lead dust levels 150 times higher than the 250 micrograms per square foot that would trigger a remediation and cleanup recommendation for a house where a child lived by the lead poisoning prevention program she works in.

"I still believe we should not be in that building because the potential danger associated with lead dust at the levels found there," said Ms. Ewall, who had her blood tested but has not yet received the results. "The building remains in a deteriorated condition that is detrimental to everyone's health."

As a result of a complaint filed by Ms. Ewall, and following and inspection that found peeling plaster and flacking paint, the state Department of Labor & Industry earlier this month ordered Allegheny County to test the air inside Building One for high levels of lead and mold that could cause unhealthy working conditions.

Labor & Industry also noted violations of the state General Safety Law related to water damage and ventilation in the painters work area and set a March 30 deadline for the county to correct the problems. Failure to comply could result in the shutdown of the building.

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