Contaminated Soil in Older Urban Areas May Expose Children to High Lead Levels
Gabriel M. Filippelli, Ph.D., professor of earth sciences and
department chair at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis,
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. The study appears in the August issue of the journal Applied Geochemistry. He further reports that 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.