People concerned about lead in their soil can bring samples to an East Cleveland farmer’s market on Saturday, July 13.
Three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives from Chicago will be at the Coit Road Farmers Market to test home soil samples and offer advice about how to mitigate lead contamination.
People can bring a sandwich bag of soil collected from various spots in a yard, play area or vacant lot for the EPA to search for concentrations of lead using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
The federal agency recently lowered the acceptable amount of lead in soil from 400 parts per million to 200 parts per million, meaning more sites nationwide could have dangerous levels of lead in their soil.
As many as 90% of homes in Cleveland carry a risk of lead contamination in the soil, and the percentage is also high in the region’s older suburbs, according to the City of Cleveland.
Lead paint was commonly used in homes constructed before 1978, when a federal ban significantly limited its exposure, said Spencer Wells, treasurer for the community-led organization Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing.
"If it's a pre-1978 house, there's lead paint in there somewhere," he said. "If someone has disturbed that painted surface, which, since 1978, you figure they've scraped and painted it once or twice. So you scrape the paint and it lands somewhere and it's going to be there when you test."
Lead in soil around homes and neighborhoods can be hazardous to people, but especially children, as lead can easily be absorbed into their blood and cause neurological damage.
"The big need is to look at areas where children are playing, or where they'll come into contact with their soil, like they are helping in the garden and they're scooping up and inhaling dust, or getting it on their hands and putting their hands in their mouths," Wells said.
There are other factors to consider if your property might have lead in the soil, Wells noted. Pollution and waste disposal from industrial sites have been connected to dangerous amounts of lead concentrations in Cleveland soil. Areas surrounding freeways are also linked to lead contamination, due to car emissions from when lead was in gasoline.
The July 13 testing will take place at the Coit Road Farmers Market located at 15000 Woodworth Road, near E. 152nd Street and Noble Road in East Cleveland from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
There will be additional soil testing events, including:
- Saturday, July 27 at Kentucky Gardens on West 38th Street and Franklin Avenue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 10 at Stella Walsh Recreation Center, 7345 Broadway Ave. from 1-4 p.m. Spanish speakers will be available at this event.
- Saturday, Aug. 24 at 13611 Kinsman Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
More information about the events can be found at http://clashcle.org.
