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Urban soil-lead (Pb) footprint: retrospective comparison of public and private properties in New Orleans

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Abstract

Lead (Pb) is a toxin that after childhood exposure poses a lifetime of health risks. One route of exposure is soil-Pb as a result of ∼12 million metric tons of Pb residue in paint and gasoline sold in the US during the 20th Century. Pb accumulated in soil of the community is a good predictor for blood Pb of children living there. This retrospective study compares the soil-Pb on Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) properties with adjacent private residential (RES) properties within a 0.8 km (0.5 mile) radius. The sample subset (n = 951) is from two soil-Pb surveys (total n = 9,493) conducted between 1989 and 2000. The properties were in both the inner city (CORE) and outlying (OUTER) communities. The data were analyzed using multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP). The soil-Pb results differ significantly (P-value < 0.001) on same-aged HANO properties at different locations; thus, year of construction does not give adequate explanation for the soil-Pb differences. HANO and RES soils are significantly more Pb contaminated in the CORE than in OUTER communities (P-value < 0.001). The CORE has many more years of traffic congestion than OUTER communities; therefore, the lead additives to gasoline, and not lead-based paint, best elucidate the differences of the soil-Pb footprint at HANO and RES properties in the CORE and OUTER communites. Currently HANO properties are being redeveloped with cleaner soil, but soil on RES properties in the CORE of New Orleans remains a large source of Pb (median = 707 mg/kg in this study) for human exposure, especially children.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for the soil surveys was provided by grants to Xavier University from the Louisiana Educational Quality and Science Fund (LEQSF) and an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry/Minority Health Professional Foundation cooperative agreement to Xavier University of Louisiana. A pilot project to test the impact of emplacing clean soil on contaminated property was funded by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Lead Technical Study to Xavier University of Louisiana. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Howard W. Mielke

  2. Center for Bioenvironmental Research, Tulane University, 1430 Tulane Avenue SL-3, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Howard W. Mielke

  3. College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA, 70125, USA

    Christopher Gonzales

  4. Lead Lab, Inc., New Orleans, LA, 70179-1125, USA

    Eric Powell

  5. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Paul W. Mielke Jr.

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  1. Howard W. Mielke
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Correspondence to Howard W. Mielke.

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Mielke, H.W., Gonzales, C., Powell, E. et al. Urban soil-lead (Pb) footprint: retrospective comparison of public and private properties in New Orleans. Environ Geochem Health 30, 231–242 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-007-9111-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-007-9111-3

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