Environmental Quality Management workers finish working for the day at 748 Gum Street, one of several lead clean up sites they have been working on, in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday, July 27, 2017. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it has removed lead and arsenic from around half of the contaminated residential properties that surround downtown Evansville. Staff file photo by Sam Owens
The Jacobsville Neighborhood Soil Contamination Site's cleanup focus areas, called operable unit
locations. The area in between labeled TBD (to be determined) is now part of OU2 South. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
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EVANSVILLE — Government and nonprofit agencies across the country are using a variety of means to tackle problems of childhood lead exposure similar to Evansville's.
"Cleaning up lead is not rocket science," said Gabe Filippelli, a professor of earth sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
Childhood lead exposure comes from two intertwining sources, he said — contaminated soil and lead-based paint in older housing.
Lead testing data: Toxic lead effects may be hitting Evansville's lowest-income neighborhoods the hardest
Both of those sources have been identified as problems in Evansville, particularly its lowest-income neighborhoods where testing is finding more children with high blood lead levels than in other parts of the city.
"There is a significant number of old housing with lead-based paint," Filippelli said.
Filippelli works with Map My Environment, a global academic collaboration started in 2005 that uses citizen scientists to gather data about soil, dust and water pollution in communities and empower people to take action.
To do that, the organization provides people with free science kits so they can collect samples. Map My Environment pays for the cost of testing the samples. So far, 28 cities in 12 countries are participating in the effort, including Indianapolis.
As it ages and wears, lead paint creates dust containing toxic lead. This can be a hazard for children when they breathe or swallow it, both indoors and outside, he said. Outside lead from exterior paint on old housing works its way into the soil, especially nearer to buildings where it falls.
Another source is the leaded gasoline widely used in vehicles until the mid-1980s Filippelli said. Emissions from traffic created lead fall out that also contaminated soil.
Because buildings act as barriers, lead from traffic emissions or airborne dust is deposited the most heavily close to the building, Filipelli said.
"That's why close to a house you will find two times or more lead in the soil than even six feet away," he said.
Lead pain hazards:Here's why lead poisoning is still a risk for kids in low-income Evansville neighborhoods
All of this is worse in older areas of cities, neighborhoods often disproportionately low income, Filipelli said.
Jacobsville, and now other center city neighborhoods, that have been the target of the EPA cleanup in Evansville fit that description.
Howard Mielke, a research professor at Tulane University School of Medicine, has found such interior urban neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by lead. It's an issue Mielke has researched for decades in cities such as Baltimore, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Detroit.
"We think the major source is traffic flow and leaded gasoline. The interior of cities is where the highest traffic flow was," he said.
Mielke said lead-based paint, as well as water systems with old lead pipes such as in the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, are also sources of concern.
"Every source is a problem. Children are sensitive to their environment. If there is lead in their environment, they pick it up," he said.
However, he believes lead-contaminated soil is a major factor in children with elevated blood lead levels in urban communities such as New Orleans.
Even low lead levels in soil have been correlated with steep rises in blood lead levels, Mielke said.
"Very small amounts of lead in the soil can be very potent," he said.
The EPA's safe limit for areas where children play is 400 parts per million (ppm) and 200 ppm for safe gardening. For areas not used for play or gardening, the limit is 1,200 ppm.
However, Mielke said those limits are misleading.
"There is no safe level known for lead," he said.
Because of that, Mielke said it is better not to wait until a child tests positive for elevated lead levels.
"There is no reason to wait. You're just using the child as a lead testing device," he said. "We know enough to know that if lead levels in soil come down, so does blood lead level. It's very strongly associated."
The toxic effects of lead are permanent, especially to the brain, nervous system and kidneys. It can cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and possibly death.
Ingesting lead and arsenic can be toxic, especially for children. While it can affect adults, children 6 years old and younger are most at risk because they are still developing. Long-term exposure to lead can cause children to have decreased bone and muscle growth, damage to their nervous system, developmental delays and speech and language problems.
Reducing exposure to lead in soil is as simple as covering it up in areas where children frequent and play such as yards and playgrounds, Mielke said.
"Just getting good cover and grass on it helps," he said. "You can easily bring in clean soil and place it on the contaminated soil. We found that about six inches of clean soil is ample to make a huge difference."
It's an approach that appears to be working in New Orleans where an effort has been made to bring in clean soils to cover playgrounds.
A campaign to install clean soil at about 30 child care centers in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina was successful, Mielke said. Even after the hurricane, lead levels at those sights have remained low.
Mielke documented the impact of cleaner soil on blood levels in New Orleans in a 2019 study. In it, he found that as lead levels in soil decreased over time so did blood lead levels.
The study compared lead levels in soil in thousands of samples from 1999-2001 to samples collected in 2013-2017. Mielke attributes the change to new soil brought in for remediation, new construction projects, as well as the natural depletion of lead in soil over time from microorganisms.
Indoors, Mielke said there is no reason to sand lead paint or do renovations that will create toxic lead dust. He said walls can easily be covered in new paint that will provide a good seal, or wallboard.
Filippelli said it is important to prioritize areas where there is the greatest risk and level of exposure and engage the community to educate them on how to avoid exposure and testing.
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