Lead, arsenic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and house dust in the communities surrounding the Sydney, Nova Scotia, tar ponds.

Abstract

This study evaluated lead, arsenic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in the residential communities adjacent to the Sydney, Nova Scotia, tar ponds, the area considered Canada's worst contaminated site. The tar pond remediation policy has been limited to the site and some residential properties. We compared background concentrations in 91 soil samples taken 5-20 km from the coke oven site with those in soil samples from the three communities surrounding the tar ponds: Whitney Pier, Ashby, and North End. These surrounding communities were statistically different from background regarding arsenic, lead, and PAHs. Twenty percent of the background soil samples and 95% of the tar pond soil samples were above the Canadian health-risk-based soil guidelines for arsenic (12 ppm), and 5% of the background samples and 80% of the tar pond soil samples were above the Canadian guidelines for lead (140 ppm). Regarding dust lead and arsenic loading, the results provide no evidence that Whitney Pier is significantly different than Ashby and North End. Children in these communities are predicted to have a 1-15% chance of blood lead > 10 µg/dL. The results suggest that lead and arsenic found in the homes originate outside. The lead content of paint in the homes was not evaluated, but consideration of painted wood at the doorway did not confound the results of the study. The results indicate that the residential environment has been adversely affected by PAHs, lead, and arsenic and should be considered for remediation.

Environmental and potential human health legacies of non-industrial sources of lead in a Canadian urban landscape – the case study of St John's, Newfoundland

“…Entrance floors have only slightly higher loading values than kitchen floors have in St John's, in contrast to results from Sydney, NS, where doorway loadings were found to be an order of magnitude higher than kitchen floor ones (Lambert and Lane 2004). Entrance floor loadings were expected to be higher than those on kitchen floors in St John's because of tracking-in of elevated lead soil on shoes or pets in entranceways and the more frequent cleaning of kitchen surfaces as reported by study participants.…”

“…The relationship between dripline soil lead and indoor dust loadings is the strongest for samples from entrance floors and window sills, which is not unexpected considering their proximity and exposure opportunities (e.g. tracking-in on footwear; Lambert and Lane 2004). In contrast, Rasmussen et al (2001) reported no statistically significant relationship between outdoor soil concentrations and indoor dust concentrations for sampled properties in Ottawa, which they attributed to the much greater influence of indoor leaded paint sources.…”

“…Dust lead levels from houses in Sydney, NS, indicated that lead loading was highest in doorways, on some premises an order of magnitude higher than elsewhere in the house, suggesting an exterior soil lead source (Lambert and Lane 2004). Experimental studies estimated that 20-30% of lead measured in indoor dust may originate in outdoor contaminated soil (Rutz et al 1997).…”

“…However, sample composites were not created for individual properties (e.g. US EPA 1995; Hilts et al 2001;Rasmussen et al 2001;MOE 2002;Lambert and Lane 2004;Government of New Brunswick 2005); rather, each sample was analysed separately. Surface soil samples were also collected along urban-rural transects and at various depths below the surface in both urban and rural settings to establish surface soil lead levels away from urban sources and naturally occurring background levels of soil lead, respectively.…”

Interactions of arsenic and phenanthrene on their uptake and antioxidative response in Pteris vittata L.

“…In fact, the simultaneous accumulation of arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are frequently found and extensively evaluated in several types of anthropogenic industry contaminated sites, such as coking & chemical industry site, mining and metallurgy industry site, lumber and wood production site, etc, even the urban residual areas (Lambert and Lane, 2004;Elgh-Dalgren et al, 2009;Kay et al, 2008). However, up to date, methods for remediation of arsenic and PAHs cocontamination are scarce to report.…”