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Browsing by Subject "Lead poisoning"
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Item A new, lower threshold for lead poisoning in children means more kids will get tested – but the ultimate solution is eliminating lead sources(The Conversation US, Inc., 2021-11-05) Filippelli, Gabriel; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of ScienceItem Biden’s infrastructure plan targets lead pipes that threaten public health across the US(The Conversation US, Inc., 2021-05-04) Filippelli, Gabriel; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of ScienceItem Children's Blood Lead Seasonality in Flint, Michigan (USA), and Soil-Sourced Lead Hazard Risks(MDPI, 2016-03-25) Laidlaw, Mark A.S.; Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Sadler, Richard C.; Gonzales, Christopher R.; Ball, Andrew S.; Mielke, Howard W.; Department of Earth Sciences, School of ScienceIn Flint; MI; USA; a public health crisis resulted from the switching of the water supply from Lake Huron to a more corrosive source from the Flint River in April 2014; which caused lead to leach from water lines. Between 2010 and 2015; Flint area children's average blood lead patterns display consistent peaks in the third quarter of the year. The third quarter blood lead peaks displayed a declining trend between 2010 and 2013; then rose abruptly between the third quarters of 2013 from 3.6% blood lead levels ≥5 µg/dL to a peak of about 7% in the third quarter of 2014; an increase of approximately 50%. The percentage of blood lead level ≥5 µg/dL in the first quarter of 2015 then dropped to 2.3%; which was the same percentage as the first quarter of 2014 (prior to the Flint River water source change). The Flint quarterly blood lead level peak then rose to about 6% blood lead levels ≥ 5 µg/dL in the third quarter of 2015; and then declined to about 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015. Soil lead data collected by Edible Flint food collaborative reveal generally higher soil lead values in the metropolitan center for Flint; with lower values in the outskirts of the city. The questions that are not being asked is why did children's blood lead levels display a seasonal blood lead pattern before the introduction of the new water supply in Flint; and what are the implications of these seasonal blood lead patterns? Based upon previous findings in Detroit and other North American cities we infer that resuspension to the air of lead in the form of dust from lead contaminated soils in Flint appears to be a persistent contribution to lead exposure of Flint children even before the change in the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River.Item EPA’s ‘secret science’ rule will make it harder for the agency to protect public health(The Conversation US, Inc., 2020-01-07) Filippelli, Gabriel; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of ScienceItem Inconsistent screening for lead endangers vulnerable children: policy lessons from South Bend and Saint Joseph County, Indiana, USA(Palgrave Macmillan, 2019-03-01) Beidinger-Burnett, Heidi; Ahern, Lacey; Ngai, Michelle; Filippelli, Gabriel; Sisk, Matthew; Earth Sciences, School of ScienceLead exposure is a major health hazard affecting children and their growth and is a concern in many urban areas around the world. One such city in the United States (US), South Bend Indiana, gained attention for its high levels of lead in blood and relatively low testing rates for children. We assessed current lead screening practices in South Bend and the surrounding St. Joseph County (SJC). The 2005–2015 lead screening data included 18,526 unique children. Lead screening rates ranged from 4.7 to 16.7%. More than 75% of children had ‘elevated blood lead levels’ (EBLL) ≥ 1 micrograms per deciliter (µg/Dl) and 9.7% had an EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL. Over 65% of the census tracts in SJC had mean EBLL ≥ 5 μg/dL, suggesting widespread risk. Inconsistent lead screening rates, coupled with environmental and societal risk factors, put children in SJC at greater risk for harmful lead exposure than children living in states with provisions for universal screening. Indiana and other states should adhere to the US Centers for Disease Control’s guideline and use universal lead testing to protect vulnerable populations.Item Mapping the Urban Lead Exposome: A Detailed Analysis of Soil Metal Concentrations at the Household Scale Using Citizen Science(MDPI, 2018-07-19) Filippelli, Gabriel M.; Adamic, Jessica; Nichols, Deborah; Shukle, John; Frix, Emeline; Earth Sciences, School of ScienceAn ambitious citizen science effort in the city of Indianapolis (IN, USA) led to the collection and analysis of a large number of samples at the property scale, facilitating the analysis of differences in soil metal concentrations as a function of property location (i.e., dripline, yard, and street) and location within the city. This effort indicated that dripline soils had substantially higher values of lead and zinc than other soil locations on a given property, and this pattern was heightened in properties nearer the urban core. Soil lead values typically exceeded the levels deemed safe for children’s play areas in the United States (<400 ppm), and almost always exceeded safe gardening guidelines (<200 ppm). As a whole, this study identified locations within properties and cities that exhibited the highest exposure risk to children, and also exhibited the power of citizen science to produce data at a spatial scale (i.e., within a property boundary), which is usually impossible to feasibly collect in a typical research study.Item People who shoot risk unhealthy levels of lead exposure(The Conversation US, Inc., 2017-04-05) Laidlaw, Mark A. S.; Ball, Andrew; Gulson, Brian; Filippelli, Gabriel; Mielke, Howard Walter; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of ScienceItem The US is making plans to replace all of its lead water pipes from coast to coast(The Conversation US, Inc., 2021-12-17) Filippelli, Gabriel; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science