Chronic Lead Poisoning From Urban Soils

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2008) — Chronic lead poisoning, caused in part by the ingestion of contaminated dirt, affects hundreds of thousands more children in the United States than the acute lead poisoning associated with imported toys or jewelry. Could treating contaminated soil with water prevent this public health scourge? In a study appearing in the August issue of the journal Applied Geochemistry, Gabriel M. Filippelli, Ph.D., professor of earth sciences conducted a literature review of studies of urban soils as a persistent source of lead poisoning and also investigated the lead burden in the soils from a number of cities, including Indianapolis. His findings reveal that older cities like Indianapolis have a very high lead burden resulting in a lead poisoning epidemic among their youngest citizens. Comment: The home environment causing lead poisoning is nothing new. #) years ago studies near the I 95 beltway in the region of the Pentagon showed contaminated soil from tetraethyl;l lead, and associated poisoning among children. This study was one of many that lead to the banning of lead in gasoline. There is also the problem of lead paint flaking from houses into the soil, that is well known in urban housing. While the idea of protecting children from soil is useful, it is more important to ensure that lead paint in housing is either removed or protected using rental codes. This has been well demonstrated for more than 40 years, but the realty industry has fought protection of children, usually low income renters, who have little power to protect themselves.