Mechanisms of children's soil exposure

Schachter, Aubrey; Gailey, Andrew D.; Egendorf, Sara Perl; Mielke, Howard W.

doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2019.100742

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Even though Pb exposure risk has substantially decreased due to regulations on Pb in industrial and consumer products, soil remains an understudied reservoir for Pb. , Soil is a dynamic medium where Pb can persist for extended periods as compared to air and water . The residence time for Pb in the soil at a depth of 20 cm can be centuries, and it is decades in the topsoil (5 cm). − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Distribution in Urban Soil in a Medium-Sized City: Household-Scale Analysis

Obeng-Gyasi

Roostaei

Gibson

2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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This study characterizes potential soil lead (Pb) exposure risk at the household scale in Greensboro, North Carolina, using an innovative combination of field sampling, statistical analysis, and machine-learning techniques. Soil samples were collected at the dripline, yard, and street side at 462 households (total sample size = 2310). Samples were analyzed for Pb and then combined with publicly available data on potential historic Pb sources, soil properties, and household and neighborhood demographic characteristics. This curated data set was then analyzed with statistical and machine-learning techniques to identify the drivers of potential soil Pb exposure risks and to build predictive models. Among all samples, 43% exceeded current guidelines for Pb in residential gardens. There were significant racial disparities in potential soil Pb exposure risk; soil Pb at the dripline increased by 19% for every 25% increase in the neighborhood population identifying as Black. A machine-learned Bayesian network model was able to classify residential parcels by risk of exceeding residential gardening standards with excellent reproducibility in cross validation. These findings underscore the need for targeted outreach programs to prevent Pb exposure in residential areas and demonstrate an approach for prioritizing outreach locations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Distribution in Urban Soil in a Medium-Sized City: Household-Scale Analysis

Obeng-Gyasi

Roostaei

Gibson

2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Soils and road dusts may record the legacy of an urban environment as the two media act as both source and sink for contaminants [28]. In fact, soil is an understudied medium, which can act as a reservoir for potentially toxic heavy metals such as Pb [29,30]. Lead is persistent in the environment [31] and can exist in soil longer is an understudied medium, which can act as a reservoir for potentially toxic heavy metals such as Pb [29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, soil is an understudied medium, which can act as a reservoir for potentially toxic heavy metals such as Pb [29,30]. Lead is persistent in the environment [31] and can exist in soil longer is an understudied medium, which can act as a reservoir for potentially toxic heavy metals such as Pb [29,30]. Lead is persistent in the environment [31] and can exist in soil longer than in other media such as air or water [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Pollution, Demographics, and Environmental Health Risks: The Case of Philadelphia, USA

O’Shea

Toupal

Caballero-Gómez

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Lead (Pb) soil contamination in urban environments represents a considerable health risk for exposed populations, which often include environmental justice communities. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA), Pb pollution is a major concern primarily due to extensive historical Pb-smelting/processing activity and legacy use of Pb-based paints and leaded gasoline. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) organized and/or compiled community-driven soil sampling campaigns to investigate Pb content in surface soils across Philadelphia. Using these data (n = 1277), combined with our own dataset (n = 1388), we explored the spatial distribution of Pb content in soils across the city using ArcGIS. While assessing Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP)-code level data, we found strong correlations between factors, such as the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels (% EBLL) and % minority population as well as between % EBLL and % children in poverty. We developed a “Lead Index” that took demographics, median measured Pb-in-soil content, and % EBLLs into account to identify ZIP codes in need of further assessment. Our results will be used to help lower the Pb-exposure risk for vulnerable children living in disproportionately burdened communities.

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“…Primary prevention policies have dramatically decreased human exposure to Pb, given the removal of Pb from solder in canned foods and from fresh paint and gasoline . At the same time, however, toxicologists have grown increasingly concerned about adverse effects of low-level Pb exposure. − Many studies link Pb exposure to contaminated soil, including via tracking soil particles into homes, playing outdoors, and gardening. − Environmental Pb indoors and outdoors will pose health risks for many years to come.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacies of Pre-1960s Municipal Waste Incineration in the Pb of City Soils

Bihari,

Grewal,

Richter

2023

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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A 1937 street map of Durham, North Carolina, located four city-run waste incinerators that we recognized to be sites of contemporary city parks. We obtained city permission to sample three park's soils, developed a sampling design for geospatial mapping of hypothetical incinerator-ash contamination of park soils, and queried online Durham newspapers to understand histories of incinerator operations, ash disposal, and incinerator-to-park conversions. In 2021−2022, seven decades after parks were created, two parks had soil-Pb > 400 mgPb/kg, EPA's threshold for safe soil in play areas. At Walltown Park, six of 97 surface samples ranged from 416 to 1338 mg Pb/kg within meters of a basketball court and a park path. East Durham Park had a hectare-sized area where 12 samples averaged 1294 mgPb/kg (median 1335 mg/kg). Engineering surveys of United States and Canadian cities in 1941 and 1958 suggest that half incinerated solid wastes. Many records describe how incinerator ash was dumped with little regard for health or environmental hazards. Legacy soil contaminations of incinerator ash can be identified, as we have done in Durham, from historical records of city-waste incinerator operations, online access to newspaper archives that describe incinerator-to-park conversions, and a XRF to screen for soil-Pb contamination.

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Mechanisms of children's soil exposure

Cited by 9 publications

References 30 publications

Lead Distribution in Urban Soil in a Medium-Sized City: Household-Scale Analysis

Lead Distribution in Urban Soil in a Medium-Sized City: Household-Scale Analysis

Lead Pollution, Demographics, and Environmental Health Risks: The Case of Philadelphia, USA

Legacies of Pre-1960s Municipal Waste Incineration in the Pb of City Soils

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