Development of risk based treatability and engineering measures for reducing exposure to lead contaminated media in the Miami inner city, Florida

A major consequence of contamination at the local level’s population as it relates to environmental health and environmental engineering is childhood lead poisoning. Environmental contamination is one of the pressing environmental concerns facing the world today. Current approaches often focus on large contaminated industrial size sites that are designated by regulatory agencies for site remediation. Prior to this study, there were no known published studies conducted at the local and smaller scale, such as neighborhoods, where often much of the contamination is present to remediate. An environmental health study of local lead-poisoning data in Liberty City, Little Haiti and eastern Little Havana in Miami-Dade County, Florida accounted for a disproportionately high number of the county’s reported childhood lead poisoning cases. An engineering system was developed and designed for a comprehensive risk management methodology that is distinctively applicable to the geographical and environmental conditions of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Furthermore, a scientific approach for interpreting environmental health concerns, while involving detailed environmental engineering control measures and methods for site remediation in contained media was developed for implementation. Test samples were obtained from residents and sites in those specific communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida (Gasana and Chamorro 2002). Currently lead does not have an Oral Assessment, Inhalation Assessment, and Oral Slope Factor; variables that are required to run a quantitative risk assessment. However, various institutional controls from federal agencies’ standards and regulation for contaminated lead in media yield adequate maximum concentration limits (MCLs). For this study an MCL of .0015 (mg/L) was used. A risk management approach concerning contaminated media involving lead demonstrates that the linkage of environmental health and environmental engineering can yield a feasible solution.

An Analysis of the Potential Risk Exposure to Lead (Pb) through Urban Community Gardens

Community gardening in cities is increasing, driven by social interaction and food security. City soils are sinks for heavy metals; including neurotoxic lead (Pb). Exposure routes are primarily through inhalation/ingestion of soil, or second by ingestion of plants that have accumulated Pb. This research evaluates soil at three Liberty City, Florida sites estimating risk of Pb exposure through primary and secondary pathways. Soil cores were collected from Liberty City, and red Malabar spinach (Basella rubra) was grown in Pb soil treatments in a greenhouse. Total soil Pb levels and plant tissues were measured after acid digestion, by ICP-OES. In Liberty City, two sites had hotspots with areas of elevated soil Pb levels. Plants grown on Pb contaminated soil all accumulated statistically significant Pb concentrations. Therefore, there is a potential risk of Pb exposure to residents in Liberty City by exposure in hotspot sites through both the primary and secondary pathways.