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lead levels in philadelphia, pa soil

11/3/2017

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The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you. 
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what i was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now.  It’s a great resource!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
“Parents in Fishtown and Kensington [Pennsylvania] are calling and emailing local lawmakers, brainstorming at crammed community meetings, and grilling developers and construction crews.
They want to make sure their children are protected and they’re demanding help from public officials in the wake of a recent Inquirer and Daily News investigative report about dangerous levels of lead in soil in their neighborhoods.
Fourteen of the city’s 36 former lead smelters once operated in these river ward neighborhoods, polluting the soil. The newspapers tested bare soil in 114 locations in parks, playgrounds, and yards. Nearly three out of four had hazardous levels of lead. And now, a full-tilt development boom is potentially churning up lead that lay dormant for decades.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/toxic-city/fishtown-lead-poison-philadelphia-soil-parents-20170702.html
 
“Construction projects in Philadelphia's river wards are on the rise. Some parents worry that when construction crews don't follow dust regulations, hazardous lead particles could end up in places where children play.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News recently tested more than 100 parks, playgrounds and backyards in the city's river wards. Nearly 75 percent of the areas tested had hazardous levels of lead.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/philadelphia-high-lead-levels-in-soil-raise-parents-concerns/
 
“Some residents in Philadelphia are finding the soil in their backyards, dirt on their front stoop and sidewalks has high levels of lead. The “River Ward”—which includes Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond—was once the heart of Philadelphia’s industrial hub with many factories and smelters. Lead dust emitted from those smokestacks is now being unearthed by the area’s many construction projects. Small amounts of lead can lower a child’s IQ and cause behavioral problems— something of great concern to residents.”
https://whyy.org/episodes/toxic-city-lead-poisoned-soil-philadelphia-2/
 
“Once in the soil, the heavy metal [lead] stays indefinitely. Even minuscule amounts can permanently lower a child’s IQ and cause behavioral problems.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/toxic-city/philadelphia-lead-soil-fishtown-construction-dust.html
 
The concern in many areas in the United States exposure to lead-based paint in older buildings.
“In the last ten years, alone, the number of children [in Philadelphia] with high lead levels fell by 75 percent.
One step was requiring landlords renting units built before 1978, when lead paint was outlawed, to families with children under six, certify the unit is lead-safe….
Old homes and buildings are the primary source of lead poisoning, which comes from chipping paint.
The number of children in Philadelphia exposed to lead has declined but it’s still a big concern [for local parents].”
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/06/20/city-announces-additional-steps-in-battle-against-child-lead-poisoning/
 
“Philadelphia residents living in or near the River Wards neighborhoods of Kensington, Fishtown and Olde Richmond can get free soil testing and free blood lead screening for children at an environmental fair Sept. 30 [2017]…the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.
Residents are invited to bring soil samples from their properties to the testing event where representatives from EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will analyze it for lead and other metals.
A flyer explaining how to collect the soil samples was distributed to these neighborhoods, and instructions are also available online at:
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/soilshop/docs/soil_sampling_cartoon-color_508.pdf 
 
Along with the soil testing, EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency], in coordination with ATSDR, will be offering free blood lead screening for children ages six and under in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Public Health Lab.
Representatives from EPA, ATSDR and the city will also be available to meet with residents and answer environmental and health related questions.”
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/philadelphia-river-wards-residents-invited-check-soil-get-blood-tests-lead
 
This August 8, 2017 article includes a graph of the relationships between total soil or bioaccessible lead (Pb) and children’s blood lead levels (BLL) in an urban neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA, with a history of soil Pb contamination.  This could be used as a lecture topic, homework, quiz or test question.http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b02058?src=recsys&journalCode=esthag
 
Past blog posts about lead contamination in public drinking water include:
10/08/2015          Current Event - Contaminated Drinking
                                  Water​ [in Flint, Michigan]
12/17/2015          Current Event -- Lead Poisoning [in
                                  Flint, Michigan - follow-up]
09/22/2017          Los Angeles Lead Clean-Up
 
 *This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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