Clean Air Coalition together with Jill Johnston, Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, and her student collected 243 samples that were analyzed both in-situ and from collected soil. Of the 221 reliable sample data, 14% detected antimony, 24% detected arsenic, 9% detected cadmium, 62% detected copper, 95% detected lead, 96% detected manganese, 2% detected mercury, 10% detected nickel, and 97% detected zinc.
Lead and other metals can cause harm throughout the body, including damage to multiple organ systems[i], cognitive deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays[ii] [iii]. Chronic exposure to low levels of lead remains a significant public health issue, particularly among people of color and other marginalized communities where housing stock is older and where people are more likely to live near industrial sources.[iv]
Lead, arsenic, cadmium, and antimony are closely linked to smelter emissions and were found in very high amounts in many of the samples we tested from outside the current ¼ mile testing radius where the Department of Toxic Substances Control is taking samples. These metals were measured due to community concern about potential health problems from exposure from the Quemetco Battery Recycling facility.
Samples Collected
Fifty-four samples were collected in-situ for residential and public property within 1 mile of Quemetco on 7/8/2016.
One hundred and eighty-nine samples were collected by community residents and brought to a community sampling event at San Angelo Park on 7/23/2016. Community members were instructed to collect the top 1-2 inches of soil, sieve the soil and allow it to dry. Then soil was placed into a plastic bag and brought to the central location for measurement. Residents provided up to 3 samples per property. All samples were measured for metals using a Thermo-Scientific Niton XL2 GOLDD XRF device.
Twenty-two samples were excluded from the analysis of non-lead metals due to machine errors.
Table 1. Health-based Residential Soil Concentrations for Toxic Metals (restricts to samples
where the metal was detected)
The reference data provided are derived from the health-based residential soil concentrations for toxic metals from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA),[v] with the exception of Manganese: this level is from the US Environmental Protection Agency Regional Screening Levels for residential soil.[vi]
The data are summarized for all samples with a detectable concentration and results provided in ppm. The highest detectable lead level exceeded 2400 ppm; the highest arsenic level was 48 ppm. In contrast, among these samples, levels of copper, manganese, nickel and zinc did not exceed residential soil standards.
The sampling found that 40% of samples exceeded the OEHHA residential standard of 80 ppm. Three percent of samples exceeded the 400 ppm threshold and 1% of samples (n=3) exceeded 1000 ppm.
[i] Tong S, Schirnding YE von, Prapamontol T. Environmental lead exposure: a public health problem of global dimensions. Bull World Health Organ. World Health Organization; 2000;78(9):1068–1077.
[ii] Levin R, Brown MJ, Kashtock ME, Jacobs DE, Whelan E a., Rodman J, Schock MR, Padilla A, Sinks T. Lead exposures in U.S. children, 2008: Implications for prevention. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(10):1285–1293. PMID: 18941567
[iii] Jusko TA, Henderson CR, Lanphear BP, Cory-Slechta DA, Parsons PJ, Canfield RL. Blood lead concentrations < 10 microg/dL and child intelligence at 6 years of age. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(2):243–248. PMID: 18288325
[iv] Tong S, Schirnding YE von, Prapamontol T. Environmental lead exposure: a public health problem of global dimensions. Bull World Health Organ. World Health Organization; 2000;78(9):1068–1077.
[v] OEHHA. (2010). California Human Health Screening Levels. Retrieved from http://oehha.ca.gov/chhsltable
[vi] US EPA. (2016). Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) - Generic Tables (May 2016). Retrieved July 28, 2016, from https://www.epa.gov/risk/regional-screening-levels-rsls-generic-tables-may-2016
Lead and other metals can cause harm throughout the body, including damage to multiple organ systems[i], cognitive deficits, and neurodevelopmental delays[ii] [iii]. Chronic exposure to low levels of lead remains a significant public health issue, particularly among people of color and other marginalized communities where housing stock is older and where people are more likely to live near industrial sources.[iv]
Lead, arsenic, cadmium, and antimony are closely linked to smelter emissions and were found in very high amounts in many of the samples we tested from outside the current ¼ mile testing radius where the Department of Toxic Substances Control is taking samples. These metals were measured due to community concern about potential health problems from exposure from the Quemetco Battery Recycling facility.
Samples Collected
Fifty-four samples were collected in-situ for residential and public property within 1 mile of Quemetco on 7/8/2016.
One hundred and eighty-nine samples were collected by community residents and brought to a community sampling event at San Angelo Park on 7/23/2016. Community members were instructed to collect the top 1-2 inches of soil, sieve the soil and allow it to dry. Then soil was placed into a plastic bag and brought to the central location for measurement. Residents provided up to 3 samples per property. All samples were measured for metals using a Thermo-Scientific Niton XL2 GOLDD XRF device.
Twenty-two samples were excluded from the analysis of non-lead metals due to machine errors.
Table 1. Health-based Residential Soil Concentrations for Toxic Metals (restricts to samples
where the metal was detected)
The reference data provided are derived from the health-based residential soil concentrations for toxic metals from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA),[v] with the exception of Manganese: this level is from the US Environmental Protection Agency Regional Screening Levels for residential soil.[vi]
The data are summarized for all samples with a detectable concentration and results provided in ppm. The highest detectable lead level exceeded 2400 ppm; the highest arsenic level was 48 ppm. In contrast, among these samples, levels of copper, manganese, nickel and zinc did not exceed residential soil standards.
The sampling found that 40% of samples exceeded the OEHHA residential standard of 80 ppm. Three percent of samples exceeded the 400 ppm threshold and 1% of samples (n=3) exceeded 1000 ppm.
[i] Tong S, Schirnding YE von, Prapamontol T. Environmental lead exposure: a public health problem of global dimensions. Bull World Health Organ. World Health Organization; 2000;78(9):1068–1077.
[ii] Levin R, Brown MJ, Kashtock ME, Jacobs DE, Whelan E a., Rodman J, Schock MR, Padilla A, Sinks T. Lead exposures in U.S. children, 2008: Implications for prevention. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(10):1285–1293. PMID: 18941567
[iii] Jusko TA, Henderson CR, Lanphear BP, Cory-Slechta DA, Parsons PJ, Canfield RL. Blood lead concentrations < 10 microg/dL and child intelligence at 6 years of age. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(2):243–248. PMID: 18288325
[iv] Tong S, Schirnding YE von, Prapamontol T. Environmental lead exposure: a public health problem of global dimensions. Bull World Health Organ. World Health Organization; 2000;78(9):1068–1077.
[v] OEHHA. (2010). California Human Health Screening Levels. Retrieved from http://oehha.ca.gov/chhsltable
[vi] US EPA. (2016). Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) - Generic Tables (May 2016). Retrieved July 28, 2016, from https://www.epa.gov/risk/regional-screening-levels-rsls-generic-tables-may-2016