Integrative Project - Is my soil contaminated?
Background readings and representative figures
These background readings are in chronological order.
Checking only the first few may give an out of date picture but the older ones do provide context.
When citing a reference you will need the complete entry listed here.
EPA Requires Phase-Out of Lead in All Grades of Gasoline, US Environmental Protection Agency, November 1973
Press release November 28, 1973 (copy) or https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/epa-requires-phase-out-lead-all-grades-gasoline.html
CPSC Announces Final Ban On Lead-Containing Paint, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, September 1977
Press release #77-096 (copy) or https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/1977/cpsc-announces-final-ban-on-lead-containing-paint
EPA Sets New Limits on Lead in Gasoline, US Environmental Protection Agency, March 1985
Press release March 4, 1985 (copy) or https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/epa-sets-new-limits-lead-gasoline.html
What You Should Know About Lead Based Paint in Your Home: Safety Alert, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, September 1990
CPSC Document #5054 (copy)
Impact of Lead-Contaminated Soil on Public Health, Charles Xintaras, US Public Health Service, May 1992
Analysis paper (copy) or https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000015/p0000015.asp
EPA Takes Final Step in Phaseout of Leaded Gasoline, US Environmental Protection Agency, January 1996
Press release January 29, 1996 (copy) or https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/epa-takes-final-step-phaseout-leaded-gasoline.html
The Silent Epidemic, Living on Earth, National Public Radio, 1998 (copy) or
February 27, 1998 Transcript (https://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=98-P13-00009#feature2)
March 6, 1998 Transcript (https://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=98-P13-00010#feature3)
March 13, 1998 Transcript (https://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=98-P13-00011#feature1)
Lead In Your Home: A Parent's Reference Guide, US Environmental Protection Agency, June 1998
Booklet EPA 747-B-98-002 (copy) or https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/leadrev.pdf
Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning, President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children, February 2000
Report (copy) or https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fedstrategy2000.pdf
Jamie Lincoln Kitman, The Nation, March 2000
The Secret History of Lead (copy)
Lead in soil from exterior lead paint, Wisconsin Division of Public Health, 2001
Report P-45015 (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p45015.pdf)
Lead Paint Safety, A Field Guide for Painting. Home Maintenance, and Renovation Work, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2001
https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/DOC_11878.PDF or (copy)
Part 745 Lead-based Paint Poisoning Prevention in Certain Residential Structures, Soil-lead hazard, US Code of Federal Regulations, National Archives, 2001
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-R/part-745#p-745.65(c)
Carl. J. Rosen, University of Minnesota Extension Service, 2002
Lead in the Home Garden and Urban Soil Environment (copy)
Jill S. Litt, H. Patricia Hynes, Paul Carroll, Robert Maxfield, Pat McLaine, and Carol Kawecki, Journal of Urban Technology, 9(2), 2002
Safe Yards: Improving Urban Health through Lead-Safe Yards (copy)
Intellectual Impairment in Children with Blood Lead Concentrations below 10 µg per Deciliter, April 2003
Richard L. Canfield, Charles R. Henderson, Jr., Deborah A. Cory-Slechta, Christopher Cox, Todd A. Jusko, and Bruce P. Lanphear
New England Journal of Medicine, 348(16), 1517-1526, April 17, 2003
Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, June 2003
Booklet EPA747-K-99-001 (copy)
The Secret Life of Lead, Living on Earth, National Public Radio, 2003
https://loe.org/series/lead2003/
Michelle Wander, Natural Resource and Environmental Science Department, University of Illinois, 2004
Lead in Soils (copy)
Katrina Stirs Up Issues of Lead Levels in Soil, National Public Radio, March 2006
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5240033 or copy (mp3)
About Lead-Based Paint, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, October 2007
Healthy Homes (copy)
What You Should Know About Lead in Soil, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, May 2008
Fact Sheet (copy)
The Legacy of Lead: Report on Childhood Lead Poisoning, 2008
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health, Report PPH 45109 (copy)
Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels Related to Home Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities, January 2009
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York State, 2006--2007 Table (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5803a3.htm#tab)
National Safety Council, March 2009
Lead Poisoning (copy)
Let's Make All Kids Lead-Free Kids, US Environmental Protection Agency, 2010
Protect Your Home (copy)
Protect Your Kids (copy)
Protect Your Pregnancy (copy)
The Elephant in the Playground, Gabriel M. Filippelli and Mark A. S. Laidlaw, 2010 (copy)
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 53(1), 31-45, Winter 2010
Lead Contaminated Soil: Minimizing Health Risks, Stephanie Hamel, Joseph Heckman, Stephanie Murphy, 2010
New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet FS336 (https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs336/)
Lead in Residential Soils, Richard Stehouwer and Kirsten Macnea, Department of Agronomy, Pennsylvania State University, September 2010
Sources, Testing, and Reducing Exposure (copy of https://extension.psu.edu/lead-in-residential-soils-sources-testing-and-reducing-exposure)
A Preventable Tragedy: How Lead Poisoning Causes Failure in School and Violent Crime, 2010
Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, Department of Health Services (copy)
Lead Pollution from Lead Smelters, Pure Earth, 2011
Lead Smelting (https://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/86)
USA TODAY's soil testing findings, 2011
Video (copy)
Total Lead Content, US Consumer Product Safety Commission (2011)
(https://www.cpsc.gov/business--manufacturing/business-education/lead/total-lead-content)
The first artificial sweetener poisoned lots of Romans, Keith Veronese, io9 science blog (1/20 2012)
(https://io9.gizmodo.com/5877587/the-first-artificial-sweetener-poisoned-lots-of-romans)
Ethan’s House Gets Healthier with A Visit from the Lead Poisoning Prevention Team, Joyce Witt, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2012
Children's Activity and Coloring Book (https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/coloring_book/Coloring_Book.pdf)
Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, July 2012
Chapter 1: Introduction (https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/LBPH-03.PDF)
Chapter 5: Risk Assessment and Reevaluation (https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/LBPH-07.PDF)
Lead: America's Real Criminal Element, Kevin Drum, Mother Jones, January 2013
The hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic (pdf copy)
(https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health/)
Lead Poisoning: The Ignored Scandal, Helen Espstein, New York Review of Books, March 2013
(https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/03/21/lead-poisoning-ignored-scandal)
Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, September 2013
(https://archive.epa.gov/epa/sites/production/files/2013-09/documents/lead_in_your_home_brochure_land_color_508.pdf)
Blood Lead Levels in Children Aged 1-5 Years 1990-2010, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 2013
(https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6213a3.htm)
Lead Contamination in Garden Soils, Ken Doyle, Soil Science Society of America, February 2014
(https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/story/lead-contamination-garden-soils)
Blood Lead Testing and Lead Exposure Data, 2011-2013, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, 2014
Report P-00665 (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p0/p00665.pdf)
Lead: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, April 2016
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUizvEjR-0U)
The risk of lead poisoning isn't just in Flint. So we mapped the risk in every neighborhood in America, Sarah Frostenson and Sarah Kliff, Vox Media, April 2016
Lead exposure risk nationally by census tract (https://www.vox.com/a/lead-exposure-risk-map)
Childhood Blood Lead Levels in Children Aged <5 Years — United States, 2009-2014, Jaime Raymond and Mary Jean Brown, 2017
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MMWR Surveillance Summaries 66, 1-10 (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/pdfs/ss6603.pdf)
HUD Issues Final Rule To Help Children Exposed To Lead Paint Hazards, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 2017
Press release HUDNo_17-006 (copy of https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2017/HUDNo_17-006)
Childhood Lead Poisoning in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health
Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health, 2017
Report P-01202-16 (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p01202-16.pdf)
Natural Lead Levels in Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale): A Weed, Folk Medicine, and Biomonitor, December 2018
Environ. Sci. Technol. (10.1021/acs.est.8b04191)
Lead paint remains main cause of lead poisoning in Rock County
Janesville Gazette, April 14, 2019 (copy)
Lead contamination risk near Notre-Dame cathedral
C&E News, April 30, 2019 (copy)
Jury awards $6 million in lead paint case, finds three firms responsible for lead poisoning of three kids in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 30, 2019 (copy)
A Toxic Truth: Lead Exposure Problems Linger In Soil, Air, Scottie Barsotti, Carnegie Mellon University, August 2019
(https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/august/lead-exposure.html)
Primary Health Care Consequences of Cultural Differences between New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and Oslo, Norway: Lead Contamination at Children's Play Areas,
Howard W. Mielke, Christopher R. Gonzales, Rolf T. Ottesen, Marianne Langedal, Morten Jartun, Eric T. Powell, December 2019
J. Family Medicine and Primary Care (10.29011/2688-7460.100040)
Lead in Soil, US Environmental Protection Agency, August 2020
(https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-10/documents/lead-in-soil-aug2020.pdf)
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Lead, February 2021 (https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/substances/ToxSubstance.aspx?toxid=22)
Lead Toxicity, Environmental Health and Medicine Online Course WB2832, May 2023 (https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/leadtoxicity/cover-page.html)
Lead Poisoning Data by County and Year, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2021
(https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/epht/lead.htm)
Lead-Based Paint Abatement Worker Training Course, US Environmental Protection Agency, 2021
https://www.epa.gov/lead/epa-model-lead-based-paint-abatement-worker-training-course or (student pdf)
Childhood Lead Poisoning Data, Statistics, and Surveillance, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 2022
State and county-level data by year (https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/Lead/data/index.htm)
Lead Poisoning, Mayo Clinic, 2022
(https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/symptoms-causes/syc-20354717)
Lead, Soil Science Society of America, 2022
(https://www.soils.org/about-soils/contaminants/lead/)
Soil lead distribution in Chicago, USA, George P. Watson, Nicolas F. Martin, Zachary B. Grant, Sarah C. Batka, Andrew J. Margenot, March 2022
Geoderma Regional, 28, e00480
Half of US population exposed to adverse lead levels in early childhood, Michael J. McFarland, Matt E. Hauer, and Aaron Reuben, March 2022
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119(11), e2118631119 (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2118631119)
Lead in Soil, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, December 2022
(https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources/soil.htm)
Lead-Safe Wisconsin, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2023 (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/lead/index.htm)
Childhood lead poisoning is a significant problem in Wisconsin, ranking in the top 10 states for the number of lead-poisoned children.
Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water, US Environmental Protection Agency, 2023
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water
E.P.A. Proposes Tighter Limits on Lead Dust in Homes and Child Care Facilities, New York Times, July 2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/climate/epa-lead-dust-homes.html or copy (pdf)
Lead, US Environmental Protection Agency, 2023
Learn About Lead (https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead)
Protect Your Family (https://www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead)
Home Danger Zone Finder (https://www.epa.gov/lead/home-danger-zone-finder-0)
Technical Studies (https://www.epa.gov/lead/technical-studies)
Lead in Garden Soils, University of Maryland Extension, August 2023
(https://extension.umd.edu/resource/lead-garden-soils)
National Lead Poisoning Prevention week, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, October 2023
Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/healthy_homes/nlppw)
See the sample social media posts
A proposed new rule from the EPA says U.S. cities need to replace lead water pipes, NPR Morning Edition, December 2023
(https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1216340268/a-proposed-new-rule-from-the-epa-says-u-s-cities-need-to-replace-lead-water-pipe) or copy (mp4)
EPA Strengthens Safeguards to Protect Families and Children from Lead in Contaminated Soil at Residential Sites, EPA, January 2024
(https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-strengthens-safeguards-protect-families-and-children-lead-contaminated-soil)
EPA starts lead inspection sweep in the greater Manchester New Hampshire area to prevent childhood lead poisoning, EPA, March 2024
(https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-starts-lead-inspection-sweep-greater-manchester-new-hampshire-area-prevent)
Lead poisoning results in 1.5 million deaths annually, WHO, September 2024
(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health)
