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Soil Contaminants
Stephanie Booth
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
When Maureen H. hired a contractor to paint her Leonia, New Jersey home, she had no idea it would put her children’s health at risk.
While dry sanding the exterior of their hundred-year-old house, the contractor inadvertently released dangerous amounts of leaded paint dust into the yard. As Irene, Maureen’s eleven-month-old daughter, played out back, the contaminated soil found its way onto her hands and into her mouth. Although she exhibited no symptoms, a routine blood test showed Irene’s blood-lead level to be dangerously high.
The family took drastic actions to make their yard safe. They hired professionals to remove the wood chips in playground areas and replaced it with new sod. They also installed new topsoil; put up vinyl siding; and replaced all 39 windows in their home. On the inside of the house, curtains and carpets were professionally cleaned to remove all traces of lead dust, but some clothing, bedding and drapes had to be thrown away.
Although Irene’s blood-lead levels were back to normal within a year, Maureen says the experience nearly ruined their lives.
"I knew nothing about the dangers of lead when this happened," she says. "Because you can’t see it, you tend not to think about it. And you certainly don’t think it’s going to affect you or your children."
How Can Soil be Unsafe?
Let’s face it: Kids gravitate towards dirt. They dig holes to China. They make mud pies. And, while most of it (we hope) washes out of jeans and T-shirts, some soil contains pollutants we aren’t so easily rid of – primarily pesticides, heavy metals, and industrial chemicals.
Children are physically more vulnerable to the pollutants in soil than adults. "Because their immune systems are still developing and their bodies still growing, children are at high risk when exposed to environmental pollutants in soil," explains Megan Kemple, public education coordinator of the Northwest Coalition Against Pesticides in Eugene, Ore.
Moreover, children are more likely to be exposed to soil contaminants because of their behavior. Not only will kids play in dirt, they’ll even eat it! "When a child plays in the dirt and then puts his hand in his mouth, he’s created a pathway for the poisonous chemicals to enter his body," explains Dr. Karim Ahmed, president of the Global Children’s Health and Environmental Fund in Washington, D.C.
Legacy of Lead
Due to extensive research showing that lead can damage just about every organ in the human body, particularly the nerves and brain, immune system, and even the reproductive systems, the U.S. government banned lead paint in the late 1970s and phased out leaded gas by 1986. But, years later, as The Havlusches have learned, lead’s legacy remains: Up to five million metric tons of this highly poisonous metal still lurk in our soil.
The contamination isn’t confined to industrial, sparsely populated areas. For decades, gas exhaust from passing vehicles dropped lead onto the soil in high traffic areas and inner cities. In suburbs, old, leaded paint – used in over 80% of all homes built before 1978 – wears over time and falls to the ground as chips or dust.
"The number one way kids are exposed to lead is by putting objects – like toys or their hands – that are contaminated with lead dust into their mouths," says RuthAnn Norton, executive director of the Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, a nonprofit group based in Baltimore, Maryland.
While adults absorb only about 11 percent of the lead that reaches the digestive tract, children’s bodies can absorb 30 to 75 percent. The low but chronic exposure a child receives by playing on contaminated soil can stunt his or her growth and IQ, impair hearing and memory, and even cause behavioral problems, such as Attention Deficit Disorder and aggression.
Problem with Pesticides
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 5 billion pounds of chemicals are used as pesticides annually in the United States – despite the fact that numerous studies associate them with childhood leukemia and brain cancer, as well as asthma, respiratory problems, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder.
"Many people think pesticides are okay to use since their chemical ingredients have been approved by the EPA," notes Kemple. "But actually, the EPA hasn’t classified any pesticides as safe."
Many pesticides designated for use in the yard or garden break down in soil within a few months, but some may linger for decades. Arsenic, for instance, is found in pressure-treated wood, and prior to 2005 it was often used in play sets, decks and outdoor furniture. If the wood isn’t properly sealed, arsenic can leech into surrounding topsoil. Numerous playgrounds in Florida, California and other states have been closed after the discovery of high levels of arsenic in the soil. Luckily, there are way to address the hazards of pressure treated wood around your home. See How to Avoid Arsenic Exposure from CCA-Treated Wood for more information.
Other persistent pollutants include pesticides that are banned for use in the United States. Dieldrin, a once widely used agricultural pesticide can still be found throughout the environment, particularly in soil near farms. Dieldrin continues to appear in samples of U.S.-grown vegetables and fruits, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data on pesticide residues . Chlordane, used to control termites until the late 1980’s, may remain around homes and yards sprayed twenty years ago. The banning of DDT in the 1970’s has resulted in declining levels in the environment; however, it, too, continues to be found in soil and produce. These pesticides may also drift hundreds and thousands of miles on air currents from countries where their use is still permitted.
Toxic chemicals can also be tracked indoors on clothing or shoes. This means that children who live on or near farms are at particular risk of being exposed to high levels of pesticides, according to a report published by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Industrial Exposure
Some U.S. neighborhoods are the victims of industrial pollution. Toxic chemicals, such as lead, dioxin, and trichloroethylene, produced by smelters, mines, battery-recycling plants, refineries, waste incinerators and chemical factories can stick to sediment for years. Dr. Ahmed says he’s studied neighborhoods as far as two miles away from industrial sites, which have experienced the effects of toxic fall-out – when air pollutants invisibly rain down on a neighborhood from nearby industrial plants. These chemicals sink into the soil, where they will remain until tracked indoors or picked up by children and pets.
Homes may also be located near or above hazardous waste sites, which may leach pollutants into soil and water. There are an estimated 600,000 hazardous waste sites scattered across the nation. More that 1,200 have been recognized as serious threats to human health and the EPA estimates that one in four Americans, including ten million children under the age of 12, live within four miles of one of these heavily polluted sites. The health effects of living near one of these sites are numerable and extend to the womb: Results of an 11-year study found that pregnant mothers living near landfill sites with hazardous waste have a seven percent higher risk of giving birth to a child with congenital defects.
Besides lead, common soil contaminants include trichloroethylene, a solvent used in dry cleaning solutions, adhesives and paint removers; arsenic; and dioxin, a byproduct of PVC (vinyl) manufacture and incineration. In fact, dioxin is now nearly everywhere in the environment. Like some pesticides, some industrial chemicals, like dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have staying power in the environment and the body.
Ingesting dirt contaminated with any of these chemicals can cause a variety of symptoms in children ranging from diarrhea and skin rashes to blood vessel damage, and in severe cases, even death. The health consequences of living in contaminated soil may not show up for years. "Some of the symptoms are subtle – learning disabilities, behavioral problems…It’s a complex picture that’s still being put together," says Dr. Ahmed.
