Dorchester lead-safe yard project: A pilot program to demonstrate low-cost, on-site techniques to reduce exposure to lead-contaminated soil

Abstract

Despite a general reduction in blood lead levels in children after lead was banned in gasoline and paint, lead poisoning remains an important health problem in many older urban areas. One factor that increases risk in these places is the high levels of lead in certain residential areas. A major intervention study found that reducing lead levels in urban soils results in a reduction in exposed children’s blood lead levels. Removing lead from inner-city soils or reducing exposures to lead-contaminated soils typically is expensive, technologically challenging, or beyond the ability of low-income households to undertake. This project, in conjunction with residents and community-based institutions, developed a series of in situ, low-cost, low-technology measures that worked to reduce the exposure to lead-contaminated soils in one Boston, Massachusetts, neighborhood. The project demonstrated several important results. Government, universities, residents, and community based organizations can work together effectively to reduce exposures to lead in soil. Lead-contaminated soil can be mitigated at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods in ways that increase the ability of residents, community health centers, and others to have a positive impact on their neighborhoods. A lead-safe yard program can be replicated and institutionalized by municipal home de-leading programs and other community organizations.