The discovery of lead poisoning in imported toys this summer grasped the nation’s attention and alerted parents to a potential danger in their child’s toy box.

Although not working directly with toys, David Johnson, an analytical chemistry professor at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has been studying lead content in the Syracuse area since 2003.

Johnson, who leads a research team funded by the National Science Foundation, works in cooperation with the Onondaga County Health Department looking at geographic patterns of lead poisoning in the city.

The Onondaga County Health Department screens about 1,000 children for lead poisoning each month, and provides Johnson and his colleagues with blood-lead information for their research. While the team does not receive individuals’ identities, they discovered strong spatial patterns in the city and a high percentage of blood-lead distribution in the near west side of Syracuse.

Johnson and his team of researchers are conducting a random survey by going door-to-door asking residents for permission to take samples of the soil from their sidewalk, back yard, front yard and a specific area next to the house, known as the drip line.

So far, the team has collected 3,500 soil samples and 500 dust samples from Syracuse homes.

‘We can then estimate the amount of lead on the floor that the children have access to, which is derived from the soil outdoors, separate from lead that may come from interior paints,’ Johnson said.

Lead poisoning mostly affects children because their neurological pathways are still developing, he said. However, there are no explicit symptoms that match chronic lead poisoning. Its affects, such as behavioral and learning difficulties, do not seem to be reversible, Johnson said.

This summer, millions of Chinese-made toys and other products were recalled because of dangerous levels of lead content. And the nation spent the fall dealing with the repercussions.

Mary Lovely, a professor of economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said these events have put a strain on trade relations. She added that the United States, China and multinational corporations can work together to solve the problem.

‘If consumer demand drops, that’s going to send…a message. I really think that that kind of demand response is really needed,’ she said of the lead scare’s effect.

For Johnson, the concern is local. Although the Department of Housing and Urban Development spent millions of dollars across the country and in Syracuse to assist in de-leading homes, he said ‘very little if anything has been done.’ The problem is especially prevalent in inner-city environments.

‘A great deal of (the lead) comes from degraded lead-based pant. Syracuse has old housing stock. But surely some of it has come from a couple of generations of burning lead gasoline,’ Johnson said. ‘We are not doing it now, but we did. And once the lead is deposited in the soil, it kind of stays in the surface of the soil.’

Even if lead-based paint structures in the city are fixed, soil is still being brought indoors.

‘On average, if we clean up all the housing, we’re going to have 25-50 percent of the problem still remaining because it’s in the soil,’ he said.

The problem is so widespread that there is not enough money to de-lead the soil on each individual property. Many solutions to the lead crisis are too costly or would create other problems.

Johnson suggests that soil could be treated with fish bone meal, which absorbs heavy metals, or plants that absorb lead could be planted and harvested. But he added that this process is costly.

Hannah StellaLevinsohn, an environmental chemistry graduate student, has been working with Johnson and now analyzes research data. She said the collected drip line samples contain more lead because of paint chips and because the water that runs down the side of the house also collects lead.

She suggested people plant flowerbeds and gardens to prevent their children from playing there.

‘Not all plants absorb the metals. You should make sure not to eat any plants around there,’ StellaLevinsohn said.

Johnson said he hopes people will become more aware of lead-contaminated soil and that individual households will be able to address the problem.

‘It has to be more community-based education and outreach,’ he said, ‘hopefully with establishing some sort of community activities that not only educate the parents and caregivers, but also do plantings, cover the bare soil.’

Published on November 13, 2007 at 12:00 pm