Boston Soil Study

Boston Lead-Safe Yards Low Level Treatments in Soil

Young children can become lead poisoned from contaminated soil.

This study evaluates the efficacy and cost effectiveness of low-level treatments to leaded soil conducted in Boston from 1998-2001. Low-level treatments are landscaping actions to cover areas with high soil lead levels, including framed boxes with mulch or gravel in the dripline and other areas, grass, and stepping stone or gravel pathways. The research tested two hypotheses: (1) costs can be kept low enough that property owners would be willing to do this on their own without subsidy; and (2) these treatments are durable and produce a continued reduction in soil lead exposures and home lead dust levels, thus increasing safety for young children.

Boston properties typically have soil lead levels well in excess of EPA Standards, both in the dripline and play areas. These elevated soil lead levels are primarily a result of the chipping and peeling of lead paint that was periodically applied to the exterior of the home and deposition from leaded aerosols. Although many Boston houses have been de-leaded, soil lead abatement has been conducted in few yards because the cost of full-scale removal of soil is prohibitive ($6,000 - $10,000 for a typical triple-decker property), because public funding has not been available, and because the problem of elevated soil lead levels is not widely recognized.

The evaluation involved a detailed characterization of the soil treatments applied to each property, a description of how these treatments survived over a one year period, and interviews with homeowners or residents about their maintenance of the property and the way they use the yard. Adherence to a plan for maintenance was seen as a key factor in the sustainability of treatments to reduce exposure to lead in soils.

The study also measured reductions in the tracking of exterior to interior dust lead loading through dust wipe and mat samples before treatment, immediately after treatment, and one year after the initial dust samples were taken. Factors that could affect lead levels, such as deterioration of the exterior painted surfaces, were collected before and one year after soil treatment.

An additional goal of the evaluation was to increase the body of data supporting the use of Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (FPXRF) as a suitable approach for quantification of lead in residential soils. The project collected data to determine how lead concentration varied with depth in residential soils to evaluate whether XPXRF in-situ surface measurement reflect "worst case" levels in residential properties. XRF data were then correlated with composite soil samples.

One early outcome of this work is a paper that describes the "background levels" of lead in the yards that were treated in the earlier Dorchester Lead Safe Yard Project and in the evaluation properties
	You may download the Lead-Safe Yards: A Program for Improving Health in Urban Neighborhoods document in Acrobat (.pdf) format.(File size 110k.)

For more information, contact Carol Kawecki at 443.539.4158 or at ckawecki@centerforhealthyhousing.org

The National Center for Healthy Housing, 10320 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 500 Columbia, MD 21044
410.992.0712 / Fax: 443.539.4150
Copyright © 2001, NCHHCHH, Inc.

Research and Evaluation
(Active Projects)

Research and Evaluation
(Completed Projects)

Training and Technical Assistance
(Active Projects)

Training and Technical Assistance
(Completed Projects)

Demonstration

Policy