tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/lead-smelters-3424/articlesLead smelters – The Conversation2016-01-11T19:21:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/527522016-01-11T19:21:14Z2016-01-11T19:21:14ZPregnant women and parents misled about dangers of living with lead pollution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107473/original/image-20160107-14922-1kcvcsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pregnant women in three Australian cities are not told that lead exposure during pregnancy is linked to miscarriage and early delivery.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/luca_montanari/5359952368/in/photolist-9aDa6S-9iTDci-uo8KM-n5aP1-83r6uD-dv947e-JGaEV-4CNLPu-bGhdin-p1vWq-7Sq3rb-2Jahu-6tdonT-6LUnuU-RmrUe-2awR9t-4qBEBq-5dYQxS-4obmhs-5ZFH3v-pnQQCT-5kqhjC-uo8Ta-62ngiQ-5WRED1-w1Z8cL-2dK3NE-bnFCji-4XEj55-2P4cSm-9hx7Qo-6tpfh8-4erPVu-3fJbgC-4enQZe-5mX5qM-25pEQF-6L1zLU-5TtEe7-9L72Bq-dBMuBC-px5pXo-dwxNHm-sgtVRL-6s5e9z-67sQwx-5nYsUe-6z42e6-4erQ2h-b7a2S6">Flickr/Luca Montanari</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents in three Australian states are being given misleading information about the dangers of lead exposure for babies and small children – including failing to warn pregnant women about the risks of miscarriage.</p>
<p>Lead is particularly harmful to unborn babies and young children. As the <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs379/en/">World Health Organization</a> warns, “there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe”. Childhood lead exposure is estimated to contribute to about 600,000 new cases of children developing intellectual disabilities every year.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="http://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-015-0085-9">our research</a>, published in the international journal <a href="http://www.ehjournal.net/">Environmental Health</a>, found that official online educational materials aimed at people in Broken Hill in New South Wales, Mount Isa in Queensland and Port Pirie in South Australia understate the health risks of lead for fetuses, babies and children.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107353/original/image-20160106-13295-rsie7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mount Isa in north-west Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/3537194475/in/photolist-fQiinw-Curwec-974Qcp-e6FvdR-uRHgZW-9px957-8P93Na-8P8LSZ-4jU9rU-dMN9if-6oz3FD-7NznNH-wbhZwo-av9Nxu-m2sCPB-71gtDk-7NgS6c-5PXfZu-7pnLNC-5PWHfz-5QEFTh">Rob and Stephanie Levy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All three cities are home to an active lead mine or smelter.</p>
<p>With slogans such as <a href="http://www.leadnsw.com.au/">“Lead, it’s in our hands”</a> and <a href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/">“Living safely with lead”</a>, the cities’ health education programs all promote the idea that parents can sufficiently protect their children from lead exposure through individual actions, such hand washing, household cleaning, and taking precautions in the garden. </p>
<p>Yet there is no evidence to show that’s true. In 2014, a group of international experts <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006047.pub4/abstract">reviewed 14 studies involving 2656 children</a>. They found that “educational and dust control interventions are not effective in reducing blood lead levels of young children”. They also concluded that there was “insufficient evidence” to show that reducing children’s exposure to contaminated soil would reduce blood lead levels.</p>
<p>So what exactly are parents in Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie being told? And what risks are pregnant women and families in the United States being clearly warned about that parents in Australia are not?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107348/original/image-20160106-13263-8xq99e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clowning around? A blog post about teaching Port Pirie kids about ‘safe practises around lead’, despite health experts warning that ‘there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://tenforthemportpirie.blogspot.com.au/">tenforthemportpirie.blogspot.com.au, accessed 6 January 2016</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why do American parents get clearer warnings than Australians?</h2>
<p>Emissions from lead mining and smelting activities in Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie have been linked to higher levels of lead in local children’s blood. </p>
<p>These blood lead levels exceed the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) new public health intervention level of 5 micrograms per decilitre in about <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-20/high-blood-lead-levels-confirmed-in-half-of-broken-hill-children/6483398">half of all children in Broken Hill</a> and <a href="https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fba2f5004987061fa943a94564a15cee/Port+Pirie+Blood+Lead+Levels+Analysis+of+blood+lead+levels+for+the+first....pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=fba2f5004987061fa943a94564a15cee">Port Pirie</a>, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-verdicts-in-we-must-better-protect-kids-from-toxic-lead-exposure-41969">explained in The Conversation</a> last year. </p>
<p>Lead exposure puts children at risk of significant health effects including developmental, learning and behavioural problems. For example, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-children-exposed-to-toxic-mining-metals-do-worse-at-school-48343">recent study</a> found that children living closest to the Broken Hill mine had lower school test scores and were more likely to be diagnosed with developmental disabilities.</p>
<p>All three cities have online lead health education programs. In Broken Hill, the <a href="http://www.leadnsw.com.au/">www.leadnsw.com.au</a> program was developed by a local health clinic and the NSW government. Mount Isa’s website <a href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/">www.livingwithlead.com.au</a> involves the Queensland government, Mount Isa Mines, and the local council.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107347/original/image-20160106-13282-1wyazg8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot from Mount Isa’s Living with Lead homepage, which still uses the slogan ‘Living Safely with Lead’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/">www.livingwithlead.com.au accessed 6 January 2016</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Port Pirie, the SA government and lead smelter operator Nyrstar have <a href="http://tenforthemportpirie.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/what-is-tlap-targeted-lead-abatement.html">worked together</a> on the Targeted Lead Abatement Program, or <a href="http://www.tlap.com.au/">www.tlap.com.au</a>. (TLAP’s website is currently down, with a message saying the site has “crashed”.)</p>
<p>As part of our new study, we compared those Australian websites with international best practice, published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">CDC</a>). We found important differences between them.</p>
<p>Like the World Health Organization, the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/">US CDC plainly states</a>: “No safe blood lead level in children has been identified.”</p>
<p>In contrast, at the time of our analysis, <em>none</em> of the materials from Broken Hill, Mount Isa or Port Pirie made such a clear statement about lead exposure and harm to children.</p>
<p>As our article went through the peer review process, one page of the Mount Isa website “<a href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/about-lead/">About Lead</a>” was updated to include a new statement:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no safe level of lead that has been proven not to cause any health problems.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, that statement is not repeated on other pages, including the one labelled <a href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/mount-isa/mount-isa-children/">Mount Isa Children</a>, which instead begins with advice to “Wash hands regularly”.</p>
<p>The US CDC also warns parents that the “effects of lead exposure cannot be corrected” and that “even low levels of lead in blood affect children.”</p>
<p>At the time of our analysis, only the Broken Hill site contained comparable information on low-level exposure and the fact that lead can cause permanent damage to children.</p>
<h2>Missing warnings for pregnant women and kids at higher risk</h2>
<p>All three of the Australian websites left out important risks of lead exposure during pregnancy.</p>
<p>The US CDC has a page specifically on <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/pregnant.htm">lead and pregnant women</a>, using blunt language to warn women that lead exposure during pregnancy can “put you at risk for miscarriage” and “cause your baby to be born too early or too small”. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107480/original/image-20160107-4331-1e1jkl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From the Broken Hill website, showing when it’s recommended local toddlers get blood tests to check for lead poisoning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.leadnsw.com.au/#!hygiene/cn8w">Lead NSW</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, none of the three Australian sites mentioned those crucial risks to babies. (Compare the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/pregnant.htm">clear US advice</a> to that given to pregnant women <a href="http://www.leadnsw.com.au/#!starting-a-family/c16ls">in Broken Hill</a> and <a href="http://www.livingwithlead.com.au/mount-isa/mount-isa-residents/">Mount Isa</a>.)</p>
<p>People can often be affected by lead exposure without showing obvious symptoms. Yet only the Broken Hill materials provided parents with a schedule for when they should have their children’s blood tested for lead exposure.</p>
<p>The US CDC also discusses the fact that racial minorities and low-income families may be at higher risk of lead exposure. Only in Broken Hill were racial differences in blood lead levels discussed, even though higher average blood lead levels have been reported in Indigenous children in both Mount Isa and Broken Hill.</p>
<h2>Patchy advice for parents on kids playing outdoors</h2>
<p>Our study also found that incomplete information on the risks of lead in soil, even though soil and dust are major pathways of exposure. Only the Broken Hill materials said that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>many local yards exceed the national soil lead safety level.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the other cities’ websites acknowledged that soil may be contaminated, none of the three contain information on the acceptable Australian standard for lead in gardens (300 milligrams per kilogram) or the percentage of gardens that exceed the standard in each city. They also didn’t tell residents how they could get their soil tested to evaluate their family’s risk. </p>
<p>Because lead contamination is widespread in Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie, and the potential for children to be exposed in their homes, gardens, and play areas is very real, the three websites make many recommendations for reducing children’s exposure.</p>
<p>These include intensive interior and exterior cleaning, personal hygiene, gardening, diet and food preparation. But the advice was not consistent across the communities. </p>
<p>For example, in Broken Hill and Mount Isa parents have been advised to let children play in areas with grass or turf cover or to provide a sand pit. But in Port Pirie, no specific advice on children’s play areas was given, except to cover bare soil.</p>
<p>Only in Port Pirie were parents advised to wash outdoor play structures. A recent study, however, found playground washing to be of <a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-playgrounds-broken-hill-kids-exposed-to-poisonous-dust-32325">limited effectiveness</a> for reducing children’s lead exposure if contamination is ongoing.</p>
<p>Advice on eating homegrown vegetables also varied. In Port Pirie, children and pregnant women are told not to eat “leafy vegetables like lettuce, silverbeet, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower”. No similar advice was provided in the other communities.</p>
<p>Additionally, some advice on <a href="http://semspub.epa.gov/work/11/175343.pdf">how to reduce exposure</a> to lead that <em>is</em> <a href="http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/reduc_pb.pdf">supported by research</a> has not being shared with families in all three cities. Two examples include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Door mats to reduce tracked in lead: this recommendation is supported by research but was only provided in Mount Isa.</li>
<li>HEPA filters for vacuuming: even though both South Australia Health and US EPA recommend the use of HEPA filters on vacuums in communities with lead contamination to minimise the spread of lead dust when vacuuming, this advice was not offered in Broken Hill or Mount Isa. In Port Pirie, HEPA filters were only said to be “preferred.”</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E6KoMAbz1Bw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Canadian expert Dr Bruce Lanphear explains how extremely low levels of toxins including lead can affect a child’s brain development.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What needs to happen to make Australian kids safer?</h2>
<p>The health education programs in Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie currently place the overwhelming burden on parents to keep lead out of their children’s bodies, even though they are living in communities with <a href="https://theconversation.com/reducing-the-harms-of-toxic-air-in-mining-and-smelting-communities-25999">historical and ongoing contamination</a>.</p>
<p>Lead pollution is not a problem that parents can solve on their own. Reducing or eliminating lead emissions, removing children from the sources of exposure, and cleaning up environmental contamination is critical. </p>
<p>Based on our research, we recommend revising the advice to people in all three of these communities so that it is as clear and comprehensive as what is published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Parents and pregnant women in Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie need to be given <em>all</em> of the evidence-based advice about reducing lead exposure.</p>
<p>Those revisions should be led by the NHMRC, as Australia’s leading expert health body. And that work should be coordinated across the three cities, so that families aren’t given different advice depending on where they live. There should also be rigorous and independent evaluation of these programs to determine if they are effective.</p>
<p>Better lead health education is important. But it is also not a substitute for eliminating lead in children’s homes, play areas and gardens.</p>
<p><em>* Do you have any questions about lead pollution and what advice families should be getting? Leave your questions below and Donna Green will be available for an Author Q&A between 1-2pm AEDT on Tuesday January 12.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parents in three Australian states are being given misleading advice about the dangers of lead to babies and small children – including failing to warn pregnant women about miscarriage risks.Marianne Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Public Health, William Paterson UniversityDonna Green, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) & Associate Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323252014-10-15T19:29:09Z2014-10-15T19:29:09ZToxic playgrounds: Broken Hill kids exposed to poisonous dust<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61799/original/gh6vj8p5-1413351843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children are particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of lead because their brains and bodies are still developing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-183055004/stock-photo-two-little-boys-crawling-on-the-ground-playing-with-toy-cars-at-a-childrens-playground.html?src=zijezWgiQkvuAmYsAr1NLQ-1-53">Viacheslav Nikolaenko/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the shadows of Broken Hill’s rich mining history lies a legacy of contamination and regulatory failure that will likely outlive any benefits locals derive from mining. </p>
<p>One in five children aged under five in Broken Hill have <a href="http://www.wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/UserFiles/files/FarWest/ANNUAL%20LEAD%20REPORT%202012%20Final.pdf">blood lead levels</a> above the current national goal of ten micrograms per decilitre (μg/dL). And the trend is headed in the wrong direction. </p>
<p>Our research, published today in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001393511400320X">Environmental Research</a>, shows children are exposed to contaminants in play areas. Metal-rich dust accumulates continually on play surfaces and is readily picked up on the hands of children as they play. When they touch their mouth, they <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15254477">ingest</a> the metal particles. </p>
<p>To pre-empt claims children are ingesting historical sources of lead, such as leaded gasoline and paint residue, we used lead isotopic analysis to show the most likely source of contamination is from the lead ore body that is still being mined.</p>
<h2>Lead and human health</h2>
<p>Lead is a neurotoxin, a poison that acts on the nervous system; children are particularly susceptible because their brains and bodies are still developing. Elevated blood lead is <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.med.55.091902.103653">linked to</a> permanent cognitive impairment measured in decreased IQ and has also been <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0050101#pmed-0050101-g002">linked to</a> a greater likelihood to commit crime later in life. </p>
<p>Although the current (under review) national goal for blood lead is 10 μg/dL, there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-rethink-blood-lead-goals-to-reduce-risk-to-childrens-health-10493">overwhelming evidence</a> showing that damage occurs at levels below 5 μg/dL.</p>
<p>Following significant and successful efforts by Broken Hill’s Lead Health Program, childhood blood levels declined significantly from their peak in the early 1990s. </p>
<p>But recent improvements in screening participation <a href="http://www.wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/UserFiles/files/FarWest/ANNUAL%20LEAD%20REPORT%202012%20Final.pdf">have revealed</a> that the problem is now worse than previously thought. The proportion of children aged 12 months to five years with a blood lead level above 10 μg/dL has risen from 12.6% in 2010 to 21% in 2012. </p>
<p>It is unfortunate for the children of Broken Hill that the successful Lead Health Program no longer exists in its own right and is only a poorly funded component of the Broken Hill Child and Family Health Centre. </p>
<h2>Contaminated playgrounds</h2>
<p>We measured the amount of metal-rich dust that could be picked up on the hands of children at public playgrounds in Broken Hill. We found that, on average, the amount of lead on hands after ten minutes play was 72 times the amount on hands before contact with play equipment.</p>
<p>Although there is no Australian standard specifically for lead on hands, the Western Australian government <a href="http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/cproot/1946/2/Esperance%20enquiry%20response.pdf">set a goal</a> in 2007, for the clean-up standards in Esperance, that outdoor surfaces accessible to children should not exceed 400 μg/m2. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61800/original/zpph7hbr-1413351996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surfaces are being recontaminated on a daily basis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-93698497/stock-photo-childrens-playground-swing-with-frost.html?src=zijezWgiQkvuAmYsAr1NLQ-1-23">Pefkos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study found that, after playing at one particular playground, a child’s hand could have the equivalent loading of 60,900 μg/m2 – more than 150 times the goal set in WA and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749113001875">significantly higher</a> than levels recorded in the smelter city of Port Pirie.</p>
<p>As well as playgrounds, dust falling across most of the city and any outdoor surfaces is contributing to the harmful metal residues already present in the soil contaminated from more 130 years of mining activity.</p>
<h2>Lead in soils</h2>
<p>Soils in playgrounds also had elevated lead. The <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00288/Html/Volume_2">National Environmental Protection Measure (2013)</a> sets a soil lead standard of 600 mg/kg for recreational spaces. Three of the six playgrounds we tested exceeded this standard and four exceeded the lower residential standard of 300 mg/kg, which may be a more appropriate standard as it also applies to daycare centres. </p>
<p>Of the other metals we analysed (arsenic, cadmium, silver and zinc), no soil samples exceeded the relevant Australian guidelines. However, it is worth noting that Australian standards for soil metal are more liberal than our international counterparts. </p>
<p><a href="oehha.ca.gov/risk/pdf/screenreport010405.pdf">California</a>, <a href="http://st-ts.ccme.ca/">Canada</a>, and the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/region9/superfund/prg/">United States Environmental Protection Agency</a> set soil lead guidelines at 80 mg/kg, 140 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg respectively. <a href="http://www.miljodirektoratet.no/old/klif/publikasjoner/2550/ta2550.pdf">Norwegian soil guidelines</a> specifically limit soil used in children’s playgrounds to 60 mg/kg. Only one playground in Broken Hill had soil below this level.</p>
<h2>Lead dust from mining</h2>
<p>Our data, combined with <a href="http://www.perilya.com.au/health--safety--environment/environment/enviro-reports">data</a> collected by <a href="http://www.cbhresources.com.au/operations/rasp-mine/sustainablity/environment/environmental-monitoring/">mining companies</a> as part of their environmental monitoring, show that surfaces in Broken Hill are recontaminated daily. And they indicate that contemporary mining activities are the most likely consistent source of airborne lead and other metal-rich particles. </p>
<p>Although the bulk of mining today occurs underground, ore is processed at the surface and can generate large amounts of dust. It is unlikely to be a coincidence that the most impacted playground we measured was located at Zinc Lakes, less than 400 metres from an active ore processing facility. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60700/original/tk3cjxv8-1412298295.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ore processing as seen from Zinc Lakes playground.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SOURCE: L. Kristensen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, arsenic, cadmium, lead, silver, and zinc levels on hand wipes each correlated significantly with the amounts of the same metals deposited on wiped surfaces for each day, demonstrating a common source for the contamination of hands and dust-collecting surfaces. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The high likelihood of recontamination from ongoing lead deposition makes it unlikely that common approaches to containing lead and other soil metal contamination, including topsoil replacement and remediation techniques, would be effective in Broken Hill. </p>
<p>Broken Hill is not alone with this problem either; similar work in the smelting towns of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23643852">Port Pirie</a> in South Australia and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23770073">Mount Isa</a> in Queensland <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963714000226">has shown</a> that environmental contamination is persistent and pervasive and that effective regulatory controls are often lacking. </p>
<p>Some of early responses to the problem have been positive, with the mining company Perilya putting notifications on their Zinc Lakes playground that users should wash their hands after play. The Council is also following suit with similar signage on their playgrounds. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60695/original/6db6zgxj-1412297424.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new signage at Zinc Lakes urges children to wash their hands after play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SOURCE: M. Taylor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Broken Hill, there is currently no independent monitoring of air pollution. The monitoring that does take place is being carried out by the companies doing the polluting and is restricted, in the main, to their lease or adjacent areas and not in the larger residential environment. This monitoring does not include measurement or regulation of arsenic or cadmium, which are also known to cause significant detrimental health outcomes. </p>
<p>The approaches used to measure air pollution from mining activities in Australia rely on data averaged yearly as a benchmark. As a result, short-term spikes in emissions are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963714000226">not accounted for</a>, potentially downplaying the risks. </p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has an important role to play in setting effective limits for pollution and in the monitoring and enforcement of those limits for the benefit of communities in vulnerable locations. </p>
<p>Recently, questions were raised about the NSW EPA’s willingness – <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-13/reporting-errors-blamed-for-lead-levels-at-boolaroo-smelter-site/5628786">or ability</a> – to fulfil this role. </p>
<p>We need to explore more flexible monitoring programs, and to regulate and better manage the contamination risk in places such as Broken Hill. This is particularly important for communities that are already acknowledged as being <a href="http://profile.id.com.au/broken-hill/seifa-disadvantage">significantly disadvantaged</a>. </p>
<p>People should not continue to suffer from the lingering impacts of industrial activity in their environments. Residents of mining and smelting towns should be able to live, work and play in the knowledge that their environments are clean and safe, and that effective pollution regulation will keep them that way.</p>
<p>To lower exposures permanently and reduce the cycle of contamination, the New South Wales government needs to make a significant financial commitment to start a new Lead-Free Children’s Health Program. While any such program needs to be independent, it will have to engage with and involve the whole community, the city’s mining companies and government at all levels. </p>
<p><em>UPDATE 13 February: The New South Wales Government <a href="http://www.brokenhill.nsw.gov.au/images/documents/brokenhill/News/Stokes%20Skinner%20Humphries%20med%20rel%20-%20NSW%20Govt%20commits%20more%20than%2013%20million%20to%20reduce%20lead%20levels%20at%20Broken%20Hill.pdf">today announced</a> a five-year $13 million program to address the issue of lead contamination and elevated blood lead levels among children in Broken Hill.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Patrick Taylor is an elected committee member of the Lead Group (<a href="http://www.lead.org.au">http://www.lead.org.au</a>). The data that was collected for the research discussed in the article received support from Macquarie University′s LEAP program, which is funded by the Federal Government's Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Kristensen, Marek Rouillon, and Simon Mould do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the shadows of Broken Hill’s rich mining history lies a legacy of contamination and regulatory failure that will likely outlive any benefits locals derive from mining. One in five children aged under…Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor of Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityLouise Kristensen, PhD Candidate, Macquarie UniversityMarek Rouillon, PhD Candidate, Macquarie UniversitySimon Mould, MRes Student in Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298002014-07-28T14:43:06Z2014-07-28T14:43:06ZLead pollution beat Amundsen and Scott to the South Pole by 20 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55048/original/vnvvxvvv-1406556103.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lead from Broken Hill leads to pollution abroad.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_mines_at_Broken_Hill_(2849092531).jpg">NSW Records Office</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know elements of the story. It was 1911, as Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen raced to the South Pole. Temperatures were below -50˚C. Scott was British; Amundsen a Norwegian. Sled dogs were dying, and the explorers suffered from frostbite. The stakes were high, with financing of future explorations hanging in the balance of which team would be <a href="http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/multimedia/flash/5_racetopole.html">first to reach the South Pole</a>. </p>
<p>But in a sense human impact, if not humans themselves, had beaten both of them to it.</p>
<p>More than 100 years after Amundsen won the race to the South Pole, my research group found that industrial pollution had reached Antarctica more than 20 years before the race to the pole. Thousands of kilometres away, a source of lead, zinc, and silver had been discovered in 1883 at <a href="http://www.brokenhillaustralia.com.au/">Broken Hill</a> in Australia. Mining and processing operations began soon after, and smelting began at nearby Port Pirie in 1889. </p>
<p>Scott and Amundsen were travelling over apparently untrammelled snow that was in fact heavily contaminated from smelting and mining in Australia, with lead pollution at the time almost as high as at any time since. </p>
<p>Using data from 16 ice cores collected from widely spaced locations in Antarctica, including the South Pole, our team created the most accurate and precise reconstruction to date of lead pollution over Earth’s southernmost continent. This effort required braving temperatures as low as -75˚C with wind chill, as it was at our shallow ice core site about 15km from South Pole. Our new record spans a 410-year period from 1600 to 2010, and is published in the Nature journal, <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/index.html">Scientific Reports</a>. </p>
<p>As well as the ice core samples we had taken, our study used data from others sampled by the British Antarctic Survey, the Australian Antarctic Division, and the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. These cores from our international collaborations were critical in that they allowed us to examine records from parts of Antarctica rarley visited by US-based scientists, such as the <a href="http://www.sciencepoles.org/interview/what-ice-cores-from-law-dome-can-tell-us-about-past-and-current-climates">Law Dome region of East Antarctica</a> and a region visited by the Norwegian-United States <a href="http://traverse.npolar.no/">Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica</a>. </p>
<p>All measurements of lead and other chemicals from this study were made with my collaborators using a unique continuous ice core analytical system that I developed as director of the Desert Research Institute’s ultra-trace ice core analytical laboratory.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=669&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55054/original/r45gnv5b-1406558822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Composite ice core records of lead in Antarctica from 1600-2010, showing dramatic shift from below average (blue) to above average (red) levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DRI</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lead is a <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/lead/en/">toxic heavy metal</a> with proven strong potential to harm humans, animals and ecosystems. While the concentrations measured in Antarctic ice cores are very low they record that atmospheric concentrations and the rate of accumulation increased six-fold in the late 1880s – the same time mining began at Broken Hill and smelting at Port Pirie.</p>
<p>The similar timing and magnitude of changes across Antarctica, as well as the characteristic isotopic signature of lead from Broken Hill that was found throughout the continent, suggest that this single source of emissions in southern Australia was responsible for polluting Antarctica at the end of the 19th century, and remains a significant source of pollutants today.</p>
<p>Lead ore is found in deposits containing different isotopes of lead – atoms which contain different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus. This gives different lead deposits mined in different areas a characteristic and recognisable signature, and as lead is found in the atmosphere in generally low background concentrations this makes it an ideal tracer of industrial pollution.</p>
<p>Data from our new set of ice cores show that concentrations of Antarctic lead reached a peak in 1900 and remained high until the late 1920s, with brief declines during the Great Depression and the end of World War II. Then there was a rapid increase in lead concentrations until 1975, remaining high until the 1990s. Lead concentrations have declined across Antarctica since, but are still are about four-fold higher than before industrialisation, despite stricter controls on lead pollutants from industrial sites and the phasing out of leaded transport fuels in many countries.</p>
<p>Our measurements indicate that about 660 tonnes of industrial lead have reached the snow-covered surface of Antarctica during the past 130 years, and clearly detectable pollution continues to accumulate today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29800/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe McConnell receives funding from U.S. National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>We know elements of the story. It was 1911, as Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen raced to the South Pole. Temperatures were below -50˚C. Scott was British; Amundsen a Norwegian. Sled dogs were dying, and…Joe McConnell, Research Professor, and Director of the Ultra-Trace Chemistry Laboratory, Desert Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/259992014-05-01T03:01:35Z2014-05-01T03:01:35ZReducing the harms of toxic air in mining and smelting communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47467/original/3nmwnxwf-1398904591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C2900%2C1727&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mount Isa exceeded the national one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide emissions 49 times in 2012.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-105679361/stock-photo-smoking-chimney-smelter-against-of-the-blue-sky.html?src=AbSTRbHlZG-p1dQnbUo3oQ-1-44">Zurbagan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children in the mining towns of Mount Isa in Queensland and Port Pirie in South Australia are exposed to harmful levels of pollutants that increase their risk of learning and developmental disorders, and a number of serious illnesses. </p>
<p>A study we published today in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963714000226">Aeolian Research</a> shows mines and smelters in these two towns have avoided any serious scrutiny over their atmospheric emissions of <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/features/arsenic.pdf">arsenic</a>, <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/features/cadmium.pdf">cadmium</a> (a heavy metal used in the manufacture of batteries), and <a href="http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/industry/food-business-issues/sulphur-dioxide/#.U2BREK2Sy9g">sulfur dioxide</a>. </p>
<p>Along with lead, these toxic substances are emitted at much higher levels than anywhere else in Australia. Port Pirie <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963714000226">exceeded</a> the national one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide emissions 50 times in 2012. And recent 24-hour levels for lead, arsenic and cadmium were 45-times above recommended annual air quality levels for lead, 42-times above recommended levels for arsenic and 36-times above for cadmium. </p>
<p>Mount Isa also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963714000226">exceeded</a> the national one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide emissions 49 times in 2012. And recent 24-hour maximums were 25-times above recommended annual levels for lead, 495-times higher for arsenic and 36-times higher for cadmium.</p>
<p>The licencing, regulation and reporting of toxic air pollutants and related health effects in Mount Isa and Port Pirie is inconsistent, incomplete and misleading. It’s time for effective regulation to protect the health of local residents.</p>
<h2>Health harms</h2>
<p>So, what impact are these emissions having on the local communities?</p>
<p><strong>Arsenic</strong></p>
<p>Arsenic emissions from smelters are highly toxic; there are <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/air-quality/publications/pre2009/who-air-quality-guidelines-for-europe,-2nd-edition,-2000-cd-rom-version">no safe levels</a> of exposure. Although the effects of arsenic can take years to emerge, exposure is associated with skin lesions, damage to the <a href="http://brainfoundation.org.au/medical-info/47-peripheral-neuropathy">peripheral nerves</a>, gastrointestinal symptoms, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and <a href="http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v22/n3/full/jes201215a.html">cancer</a>. </p>
<p>A study of children living around a Mexican smelter also <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805430">showed</a> arsenic exposure affected children’s cognitive development.</p>
<p><strong>Cadmium</strong></p>
<p>Cadmium emitted from the mining and smelting operations <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/features/cadmium.pdf">can have harmful effects on</a> the kidneys, the skeletal system and the respiratory system, and is a known cause of cancer. Even at low levels cadmium has also been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3346779/">associated</a> with learning difficulties in children.</p>
<p><strong>Sulfur dioxide</strong></p>
<p>Elevated sulfur dioxide emissions are associated with increased problematic respiratory symptoms, disease and mortality as well as hospital admissions for <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2679612/">asthma</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/tphn/healthindicatorsmihsd.pdf">most recent data for Mount Isa</a> shows that between 2002 and 2006 there were significant disparities in asthma rates for Mount Isa compared to the rest of Queensland. Hospitalisation rates are significantly higher (80%) compared to the rest of Queensland, and asthma mortality rates were 322% higher than the rest of the state.</p>
<p>Hospital admissions for respiratory illness are <a href="http://www.publichealth.gov.au/data/social-healthatlas-of-south-australia_-2010.html">similarly high</a> in Port Pirie. In 2007-08 there were 3,774 admissions per 100,000 people, compared with 2,036 per 100,000 for the remainder of South Australia.</p>
<p><strong>Lead</strong></p>
<p>The effects of lead exposure are greatest in unborn children and those aged under five years. This age group is most susceptible because their growing nervous and skeletal systems require high levels of calcium.</p>
<p>Calcium is an essential element for the proper development and function of the brain. Because lead (Pb2+) <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11097627">mimics calcium</a> (Ca2+), children living in a lead-rich environment absorb larger amounts of lead in place of calcium. This can interfere with the critical development of a child’s nervous system. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47468/original/c3s3hxbn-1398904911.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children in Mount Isa and Port Pirie face air pollution levels that would not be acceptable elsewhere in the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-12293236/stock-photo-little-boy-play-in-the-sand-box-with-color-toy-car.html?src=z_A4jNBYpyrOl_5YJpDraQ-1-108">Nadina/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Australian guidelines recommend Australian children have blood lead levels less than ten micrograms per decilitre (10 µg/dL), though this is currently being reviewed and <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-rethink-blood-lead-goals-to-reduce-risk-to-childrens-health-10493">should be lowered</a> to a minimum of five micrograms per decilitre, but preferably lower.</p>
<p>At Port Pirie in 2011, 24.2% of children under five years had blood lead values above ten micrograms per decilitre. The proportion was similar in 2012, at 24.9% and slightly lower in 2013, at 22.7% At Mount Isa, a <a href="http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/tphn/mtisa_leadrpt.pdf">2008 study</a> of 400 children aged one to five years revealed 11.3% had a blood lead level above ten micrograms per decilitre. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/tphn/lead_report_2010.pdf">smaller survey</a> of 167 children in 2010 showed the impacted was lower, at 4.8%, but with another 4.2% recording a blood lead level of nine micrograms per decilitre.</p>
<h2>Misleading reporting</h2>
<p>Our study discovered two critical ways in which the public are misled about the nature and extent of pollution. </p>
<p>First, is the selection of more favourable figures for blood lead values reported in children. </p>
<p>At Port Pirie, it is common practice for the South Australian health department to use the data including maternal surrogate blood values: the mother’s blood lead values. These are used in the absence of values for a child under nine months months of age. While these may correlate to new born’s levels, they are not children’s results and, in any case, blood lead values rise rapidly after <a href="http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v17/n3/abs/7500512a.html">around two months</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, unlike protocols used for <a href="http://www.wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/UserFiles/files/FarWest/ANNUAL%20LEAD%20REPORT%202012%20Final.pdf">Broken Hill children’s blood lead assessments</a>, only the last blood lead measure on a child in any year is used, irrespective of whether there are higher values from earlier in the year.</p>
<p>Together, the data from 2006 to 2010 shows this downplays the percentage of children who actually present with a blood lead value over ten micrograms per decilitre by 5.8% and 13.6%. </p>
<p>Second, at Mount Isa, the Queensland government is failing to use Australian or Queensland <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/monitoring/air-monitoring/air-quality-index/">statutory air quality values</a> to calculate the local air quality index for lead and arsenic. The statutory values for lead and arsenic are based on yearly averages and are set a maximum of 0.5 and 0.006 micrograms per cubic metre of air, respectively.</p>
<p>However, the government online air quality system uses higher 24-hour concentration values for lead and arsenic of 2.0 and 0.3 micrograms per cubic metre of air, respectively, to present a more favourable picture of emissions. Indeed, in the explanation of the calculation of the air quality index the government maintains it uses the lower Australian or Queensland statutory values.</p>
<p>On a <a href="http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/air/data/search.php?category_id=4&mode=measurement&day=21&month=12&year=2011&hour=07">sample day in December 2011</a>, for instance, the concentrations of lead-in-air of 0.784 micrograms per cubic metre of air were published as being “good”, while arsenic-in-air were recorded as “fair”, at a concentration 202 micrograms per cubic metre of air.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/monitoring/air-monitoring/air-quality-index/">proper calculation</a> of the index values, show they would be both poor with an index of 156.8 and 3,366 for lead and arsenic. So this means the levels are 56.8 and 3,266 percentage points above the recommended pollution goal. </p>
<h2>Reducing the harm</h2>
<p>Eight years ago Mount Isa Mines promised the community a <a href="http://www.mountisamines.com.au/EN/community/Pages/LeadPathwaysStudy.aspx">Lead Pathways Study</a> that would include the most critical aspect – air quality data. They are still waiting. </p>
<p>In the meantime, we already have overwhelming evidence that the communities of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883292710000740">Mount Isa</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749113001875">Port Pirie</a> are being unfairly and unreasonably subject to air pollution levels that would not be acceptable elsewhere in the country. </p>
<p>To <a href="http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/lz/c/a/environment%20protection%20act%201993.aspx">achieve the objectives</a> of the relevant state <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/E/EnvProtA94.pdf">environment protection legislation</a> and not compromise ecological sustainability and the health of the local communities, we need more frequent sampling, higher standards and shorter averaging periods for air quality. </p>
<p>We also need enforceable legal mechanisms that enable the environmental protection agencies (EPAs) to not only regulate more effectively but to actually stop ongoing systematic pollution by forcing closure, even if only temporarily. </p>
<p>This must be accompanied by a willingness within the EPAs to take such action, independent of manipulation by government or industry, as appears to be the case at present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark P. Taylor is an elected committee member and member of the Technical Advisory Board for the Lead Group Inc. He receives no payment or other financial benefit for this work. The Lead Group Inc is a not-for-profit community organisation that develops and provides information and referrals on lead poisoning and lead contamination prevention and management. See: <a href="http://www.lead.org.au">http://www.lead.org.au</a>.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janae Csavina, Louise Kristensen, and Peter Davies do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children in the mining towns of Mount Isa in Queensland and Port Pirie in South Australia are exposed to harmful levels of pollutants that increase their risk of learning and developmental disorders, and…Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor of Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityJanae Csavina, QA/QC Scientist, National Ecological Observatory Network; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of ArizonaLouise Kristensen, PhD Candidate, Macquarie UniversityPeter Davies, Program Director Master of Environmental Planning, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/233422014-02-21T00:10:00Z2014-02-21T00:10:00ZToxic chemicals and pollutants affect kids’ brain development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42045/original/sz4c9sm2-1392868237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some chemicals are still used in industrial products or are found in the environment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-100941463/stock-photo-playing-little-boy-on-the-river-coast-in-front-of-metallurgy-factory.html?src=dhGBOp5uYJjX8qhh1Ugzbw-1-3">Solovyova Lyudmyla/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The news that <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(13)70278-3/abstract">toxic chemicals may be triggering</a> a rise in autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia in the United States has rightly prompted concern among parents. But what contaminants are Australian children exposed to that might increase the risk of brain and developmental disorders? </p>
<p>In 2006, US researchers Philippe Grandjean and Philip Landrigan published a list of industrial and environmental chemicals that cause serious neurological and behavioural problems. The list included lead, <a href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309071402">methylmercury</a> (from fish containing high levels of mercury), engine coolants, arsenic and a solvent called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene">toluene</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(13)70278-3/abstract">recently added</a> 12 new substances to the list, including some pesticides (which can cause developmental delays), dry cleaning solvents (linked to hyperactivity and aggressive behaviour) and fire retardants (which may cause developmental disorders), bringing the total number of chemicals that damage the brain to 214. </p>
<p>Many of the chemicals on the list are already banned or controlled in Australia. But some are still used in industrial products or are found in the environment, so keeping track of their use and distribution is nearly impossible. While individual case studies document local exposures, this data has not been integrated in any systematic way across Australia.</p>
<p>Let’s look at some key chemicals found in our soil, air and water – mostly around mines and industrial sites. </p>
<h2>Soil contaminants</h2>
<p>Metals and <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eachaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Metalloid.html">metalloids</a> are notoriously high in soils and dust surrounding current and former metal mining and smelting sites, including Boolaroo, Broken Hill and Port Kembla (in New South Wales), Port Pirie (South Australia), Queenstown-Rosebery-Zeehand (Tasmania), and Mount Isa and Townsville (Queensland). These sites have elevated levels of lead in soils and dusts, along with a suite of other potentially toxic elements. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42074/original/jj275q7p-1392879557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soil contaminated with lead or arsenic is harmful to developing children’s brains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-137750363/stock-photo-child-riding-bike-on-dirt-road-in-summer.html?src=QipF9AoxpHzE-DN4EujK3w-1-83">Florin Stana/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two recent Australian studies have shown that low doses of <a href="http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/71322/1/02whole.pdf">lead</a> and <a href="http://repository.uwa.edu.au/R/G1MGKMDLA7MY7UJDK12USE1UVC8P1B3LB8UVX5IHYBMVC67MFX-01599?func=search-simple-go&local_base=GEN01-INS01&find_code=WCR&request=Ramsey%2C%20Kathryn%20Angela">arsenic</a> exposure in early life have significant and measurable effects on development. </p>
<p>Lead is a neurotoxin, which means that when it is absorbed, inhaled or ingested, it can affect the development of the child’s nervous system. As many as <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2012/197/9/eliminating-childhood-lead-toxicity-australia-call-lower-intervention-level">100,000 children under five years of age</a> are estimated to have blood lead levels high enough to cause heath and behavioural problems, mostly due to their proximity to smelters.</p>
<p>Exposure has been shown to lead to lower IQs, ADHD and delinquent behaviours. A 2013 study I co-authored <a href="https://theconversation.com/childhood-lead-exposure-linked-to-crime-in-adulthood-13189">suggested that</a> Australians who were exposed to high levels of lead as children may be at greater risk of committing violent and impulsive crimes two decades later.</p>
<p>Exposure to inorganic arsenic from soil can occur close to old gold mining areas, when children ingest small amounts though hand-to-mouth contact and breathing in the dust. Elevated levels can have harmful effects children’s cognitive development and may also increase <a href="http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v22/n3/full/jes201215a.html">the risk of cancer</a>.</p>
<h2>Air pollution</h2>
<p>As Grandjean and Landrigan note, air pollution is a significant source of exposure for industrial chemicals. </p>
<p>All state and territory governments in Australia have <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/national-standards-criteria-air-pollutants-1-australia">agreed to</a> six air quality standards that cover carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, lead and particulates. </p>
<p>Although these standards are <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/about/esd/publications/igae/index.html">legally binding</a>, many mine sites have special licence arrangements to exceed safe levels. Mount Isa, for instance, can exceed the maximum one-hour sulphur dioxide limit by up to five times. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41906/original/fbmjjfjh-1392778159.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pollution blowing across the Mount Isa urban area, February 22, 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Taylor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other metal and metalloid contaminants that are toxic to growing brains – such as arsenic, <a href="http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Cadmium">cadmium</a> and mercury – are not included in Australia’s national air quality standards. </p>
<p>Air concentrations of arsenic and cadmium <em>are</em> measured and regulated at Mount Isa under state legislation, but again they have special arrangements to pollute above these levels until the end of 2016. </p>
<p>In contrast, atmospheric arsenic, cadmium and sulfur dioxide concentrations in the community of Port Pirie, home to one of the world’s largest primary lead smelters, <a href="http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/licence_docs/EPA775%20-%20Nyrstar%20Port%20Pirie%20Pty%20Ltd%20-%20Port%20Pirie.pdf">are not required</a> to be measured or regulated. But we know the smelter’s emissions and depositions are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749113001875">significant</a>.</p>
<p>There is also evidence linking a range of other air pollutants to neurodevelopmental delays, disorders and damage, particularly in children. These include <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957930/">manganese</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2790518/">nitrogen dioxide</a>, <a href="http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=773916">carbon monoxide</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3262676/">tobacco smoke</a>.</p>
<h2>Water</h2>
<p>According to the recent <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(13)70278-3/abstract">Lancet Neurology study</a>, early childhood exposure to high levels of fluoride in water (higher than 1 mg/L, milligram per litre) <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-008-8204-x">can reduce IQ</a>. Parts of China have been identified as having high levels of naturally occurring fluoride.</p>
<p>However lower levels – such as those typically found in Australian drinking water when it is dosed with fluoride – are considered safe.</p>
<p>In recent months there has been a lot of “excitement” about the <a href="http://www.northweststar.com.au/story/1599698/council-washes-its-hands-from-fluoride-debate/">proposed fluoridation</a> of water in Mount Isa, with some vociferous locals suggesting it amounts to legitimate <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fluoride-Free-Mount-Isa/535682399808169">poisoning of the community</a>. The local water authority decided not to fluoridate the water after the council <a href="http://www.northweststar.com.au/story/1701955/isa-council-votes-against-fluoride/">passed a resolution</a> against the idea.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42073/original/9xzsfhp2-1392879292.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Low levels of exposure to fluoride are safe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-177050786/stock-photo-water-tap.html?src=RL5jND-HfC6DzVZ2yiA0JQ-1-12">TOMO/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To set fluoridation of drinking water into context, the regulations mandate that Mount Isa is to have a prescribed fluoride concentration of 0.7mg/L, 30% less than Sydney and very much at the lower end of the spectrum. </p>
<p>In terms of a public health success, fluoridation has <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056796.htm">played an important role</a> in the reduction of tooth decay by 40% to 70% in children and also of tooth loss in adults by 40% to 60%.</p>
<p>There would be nothing lost, however, in continuing to evaluate data for possible low-level effects of exposure through drinking fluoridated water. </p>
<h2>Reducing toxic exposure</h2>
<p>Despite the fact that Australia’s minerals sector is <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/232599/upload_binary/232599.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/232599%22">responsible for</a> around 8% of the nation’s GDP and produces a <a href="http://www.npi.gov.au">significant proportion</a> of the atmospheric pollution, research into the sector’s effects on human health is limited. We need a better understanding of toxic exposure in an Australian context through more high-quality research.</p>
<p>It is clear that the existing six <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/national-standards-criteria-air-pollutants-1-australia">mandated air quality standards</a> are inadequate for all situations and locations. The standards must be extended to encompass all harmful pollutants with fixed maximum limits, particularly surrounding industrial sites. </p>
<p>Finally, industry should be obliged to provide their raw monitoring data so that environmental emissions can be assessed against licence conditions. These data are <a href="http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/legislation/20120263reqpubpmdata.pdf">now required in NSW</a>, and are helping provide greater transparency and confidence that industry is operating within its licenced limits and that communities are not being subject to excessive pollution. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Patrick Taylor is an elected committee member and member of the Technical Advisory Board for the Lead Group Inc. He receives no payment or other financial benefit for this work. The Lead Group Inc is a not-for-profit community organisation that develops and provides information and referrals on lead poisoning and lead contamination prevention and management. See: <a href="http://www.lead.org.au">http://www.lead.org.au</a>.</span></em></p>The news that toxic chemicals may be triggering a rise in autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia in the United States has rightly prompted concern among parents. But what…Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor in Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131892013-04-09T20:41:08Z2013-04-09T20:41:08ZChildhood lead exposure linked to crime in adulthood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22067/original/f9n43pwp-1365059068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In an analysis of seven sites in NSW, the highest crime rates correlated with the highest levels of lead in the air.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Frank de Kleine</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians who were exposed to high levels of lead as children may be at greater risk of committing violent and impulsive crimes two decades later, <a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-016-0122-3">our research</a> suggests. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513026/">origins of criminal behaviour</a> have previously been attributed to a perpetrator’s genetic make up or how they were raised. But we’re increasingly realising that the child’s physical and chemical environment plays a significant role in criminal behaviours later in life.</p>
<h2>How are young people exposed to lead?</h2>
<p>Lead exposure from soils and dusts in Australian communities is dominated by three sources: mining and smelting emissions, leaded paint, and leaded petrol.</p>
<p>In mining or smelting cities such as Broken Hill (NSW), Boolaroo (Lake Macquarie, NSW), Port Kembla (NSW), Port Pirie (South Australia) and Mount Isa (Queensland), lead contamination can come from smelter fallout or dust from spoil heaps, tailings and ore processing that is dispersed across the environment. </p>
<p>Leaded petrol formed a significant source of lead exposure in cities when it was sold in Australia <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231005000567">from 1932</a> until <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/qa.html">2002</a>. In the two national assessments of petrol lead emissions in Australian capital cities, <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/13451806?versionId=45209453">3,842 tonnes of lead were emitted in 1976</a> and <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1973311">2,388 tonnes of lead</a> were released in 1985, despite <a href="http://www.scew.gov.au/archive/air/pubs/aaq-nepm/aaqprc_tp__09_lead_monitoring_200105_final.pdf">reductions in the allowable lead concentration in petrol</a>.</p>
<p>Blood lead levels <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/qa.html">have fallen</a> since the final removal of lead from petrol in 2002 as well as with the reduction of allowable lead in paint to 0.1% in 1997. </p>
<p>But the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749110003738">legacy from earlier emissions</a> remains, with an estimated <a href="http://theconversation.com/time-to-rethink-blood-lead-goals-to-reduce-risk-to-childrens-health-10493">100,000 Australian children</a> having blood lead levels high enough to cause health problems. </p>
<h2>Health harms from lead</h2>
<p>Lead is a neurotoxin, which means that when it is absorbed, inhaled or ingested, it can affect the development of the child’s nervous system. </p>
<p>High blood lead levels have been <a href="http://theconversation.com/time-to-rethink-blood-lead-goals-to-reduce-risk-to-childrens-health-10493">linked with</a> decreased IQ and academic achievement, and other learning difficulties. Children who were exposed to lead in <a href="http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neppc/wp/2011/neppcwp113.pdf">Massachusetts in the 1990s</a>, for instance, were likely to perform more poorly than their peers on standardised tests, even after controlling for community and school characteristics. </p>
<p>Similarly, the UK <a href="http://adc.bmj.com/content/94/11/844.long">Avon Longitudinal Study</a> found higher childhood blood lead levels were associated with decrements in reading, writing and spelling grades on standard assessment tests. </p>
<p>Most recently, a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749112002588%5D">2012 study</a> of multiple metal exposures in New Orleans showed that elevated soil metals (including lead) reduced and compressed student elementary school scores.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22066/original/czjpk8w8-1365058690.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In mining towns such as Broken Hill, lead contamination is from historical smelter fallout and uncapped tailings. Contemporary ore processing also produces lead-contaminated dust.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Buckingham MLC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lead exposure and behavioural problems</h2>
<p>Elevated blood lead levels are also risk factors for a range of social and behavioural problems, such as <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/6/e1054">attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder</a> (ADHD), oppositional/conduct disorders, and <a href="http://www.rachel.org/files/document/Bone_Lead_Levels_and_Delinquent_Behavior.pdf">delinquency</a>. </p>
<p>Specifically, the <a href="http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/36443">US National Toxicological Report on the Health Effects of Low-level Lead</a> concluded that children with blood lead levels of up to 5μg/dL (micrograms per decilitre) were more likely to have attention-related and antisocial behavioural problems.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.precaution.org/lib/covanta_41.pdf">2002 study</a> which compared 194 delinquent children with 146 controls found that delinquents were four times more likely to have been lead poisoned (with a blood lead level greater than 10 μg/dL) than the control group. These patterns remained even after controlling for a range of factors relevant to their socioeconomic status. </p>
<p>In 2008, US <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050101">researchers showed</a> that children with elevated blood lead concentrations at six years of age had a 50% greater risk of being arrested for violent crime as a young adult. Arrest rates involving violent crimes were shown to increase for each 5 μg/dL increment increase in blood lead. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16136561">Controlled studies</a> of lead-exposed rodents confirm that low doses of lead result in enhanced aggressive behaviour as the animals mature, confirming that early life environmental lead exposure in humans may contribute to adulthood criminal activities.</p>
<h2>Lead exposure and crime in Australia</h2>
<p>Using data from the <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au">NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research</a> and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), we examined the correlations between lead-in-air emissions and crime rates with 20- and 21-year time lags at seven sites in NSW.</p>
<p>All seven sites showed that higher levels of airborne lead resulted in higher assault rates 20 to 21 years later. Areas with higher lead levels tended to show stronger relationships. </p>
<p>The two graphs below show the strongest two relationships from the seven sites we investigated: Boolaroo (top) and Earlwood (bottom). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22027/original/99hwc2fd-1364972865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Relationship between lead particulates (μg per cubic metre) and total assault rate per 100,000 residents (21 year lag) for Boolaroo, NSW.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data points are labelled as follows: year lead was measured:year crime was measured.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the sites have different sources (lead smelter emissions at Boolaroo, and leaded petrol emissions at Earlwood, Sydney) the pattern remains the same: the highest crime rates are associated with the highest levels of lead in the air.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/22028/original/pbqzwtx2-1364972868.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Relationship between lead particulates (μg per cubic metre) and total assault rate per 100,000 residents (20 year lag) for Earlwood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data points are labelled as follows: year lead was measured:year crime was measured.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A time lag of around 20 years is theoretically meaningful and expected. The propensity to commit an act of violence peaks between the ages of 15 and 24 – this is known in criminology as the age-crime curve. An increase in present period crime rates therefore reflect a cohort of young adults who were exposed to higher levels of lead emissions as children and are now ageing into the peak period of the age-crime curve.</p>
<p>The findings are consistent with a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412012000566">2012 study</a> of air lead emissions and assault records across six cities in the United States. The researchers showed that assault records and petrol lead emissions were highly correlated over a 35-year period, even after adjusting for poverty and other characteristics.</p>
<p>The levels of exposures at which adverse effects are seen are very low – in the range of 10 to 100 ppb (parts per billion), which are comparable to the concentrations of antipsychotic drugs used to alter behaviours. </p>
<p>Therefore, it is plausible that neurotoxic contaminants, such as lead, can alter behaviours at very low levels, in the same way pharmaceutical drugs can work to alter social behaviours at similar concentrations.</p>
<p>So while there has never been a detailed study examining whether or not lead exposure in Australians is linked with criminal behaviours, our preliminary data suggests these factors are strongly linked. </p>
<p>In the coming months we will be carefully studying the relationship between historical emissions of lead to the environment and later life crime.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was originally published before the authors’ study appeared in an academic journal. It has now been updated with the link to the published study.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark P. Taylor is an elected committee member and member of the Technical Advisory Board for the Lead Group Inc. He receives no payment or other financial benefit for this work. The Lead Group Inc is a not-for-profit community organisation that develops and provides information and referrals on lead poisoning and lead contamination prevention and management. See: <a href="http://www.lead.org.au">http://www.lead.org.au</a>.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Lanphear receives research funding from several federal research agencies, like the National Institutes of Health and the Canadian Health Research Institute. He also serves as a consultant or expert witness in several suits against industries that sold lead-contaminated products, such as the paint and pigment industries, but he receives no personal remuneration for these services. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damian Gore, Miri Forbes, and Sammy Zahran do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re increasingly realising that the child’s physical and chemical environment plays a significant role in criminal behaviours later in life.Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor of Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityBruce Lanphear, Professor of Children's Environmental Health, Simon Fraser UniversityDamian Gore, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityMiri Forbes, PhD Candidate at the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie UniversitySammy Zahran, Associate Professor, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/82962012-07-18T20:42:59Z2012-07-18T20:42:59ZLead poisoning of Port Pirie children: a long history of looking the other way<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13110/original/v85kdrm6-1342587921.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unsafe: thousands of Port Pirie children have been poisoned over decades, and yet government after government fails to stop it.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Viola Ng</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is shocking to discover that <a href="http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0/TechnicalPaper-PHCS-SS-2011.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0">more than 3000 children have been lead poisoned</a> in the South Australian town of Port Pirie during the last decade.</p>
<p>Whilst Australia continues to be a world leader in lead mining, smelting, and processing, the adverse impacts associated with production have been consistently downplayed by industry, governments, councils, health officials, and regulators. Even some academics argue the effects of low lead exposures are not of significant concern. Due to ignorance, misinformation, and deliberate obfuscation of evidence, generations of families living next to lead-mining, smelting, and refining centres such as those in Broken Hill, Port Pirie, and Mount Isa, have been and continue to be exposed to environmental lead, a known neuro-toxic contaminant.</p>
<p><strong>More than a century of IQ-lowering poisoning continues</strong></p>
<p>Childhood exposure to lead has been linked to lower IQ and academic achievement, and to a range of socio-behavioural problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties, oppositional/conduct disorders, and delinquency. The disabling mental health issues from lead exposure often <a href="http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/NTP/ohat/Lead/Final/MonographHealthEffectsLowLevelLead_prepublication_508.pdf">persist into adolescence and adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>Port Pirie has been affected by lead-smelting emissions for over 120 years. A 1925 South Australian Royal Commission on Plumbism (lead poisoning) identified that the principle cause of poisoning was <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/5290785?selectedversion=NBD9482736">fine lead dust</a>. Government officials had argued in the 1980s and 1990s that historical lead-smelter dust-emissions held in the city’s soils and home environments were the primary cause of elevated blood lead in children (<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10643389109388403#preview">Body et al., 1991</a>). Indeed, they are <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/delay-in-nyrstar-licence-change/story-e6frgczx-1226427579917">still arguing</a> that this is the case:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Government understands there are legacy issues at Nyrstar’s plant at Port Pirie and has been working with all parties for many years to come to a solution.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Examination of the published research and the data collected by South Australia’s Environment Protection Authority (lead-in-air measurements) and SA Health (blood lead measures in children aged 0-4 years) shows that the contemporary and historical lead-in-air emissions are the primary causes of elevated blood-lead levels in Port Pirie children.</p>
<p><strong>Local independent MP not facing facts</strong></p>
<p>Despite the overwhelming evidence available in publicly accessible documents, it is staggering to read that the town’s Independent state MP, <a href="http://www.geoffbrock.com.au/">Geoff Brock</a>, has not been accurately briefed on the matter. Mr Brock says Port Pirie <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-10/pirie-smelter-pm/4122114">does not deserve</a> its negative image:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think it is unwarranted, quite frankly,” he said. “We have got that stigma of, I call it a polluted city, and we are not a polluted city. It is an inherited issue through the lead smelter over many, many years.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mr Brock’s comments are the same line of argument that has been plied for decades – in effect, he is arguing that historical lead emissions are causing elevated blood-lead problems in Port Pirie and that it is not a contaminated town.</p>
<p>That line of argument is inconsistent with the evidence. The “legacy” argument has delayed effective action over the last three decades and the current commentary coming from government suggests that there is a real risk that the primary cause of the problem will not get addressed. But with the potential for change at the smelter, this is a golden opportunity to clean up Port Pirie properly and effectively.</p>
<p><strong>Contaminated playgrounds</strong></p>
<p>As part of a 2011 <a href="http://envsci.mq.edu.au/files/file/Staff/Mark%20P%20Taylor/Camenzuli_Honours%20abstract.pdf">lead exposure research study</a> at Port Pirie, 26 surface soils (0-2 cm) at air monitoring and playground sites were sampled. Our samples had an average lead value of 1442 mg/kg, (approximately 38 times above background) confirming that surface soils are contaminated and also present a serious risk of harm to the children. The focus of our study was dust-lead exposure at four children’s playgrounds in Port Pirie (Memorial Park, Foreshore Park, Sports Park, and Woodward Park (see figure 1).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13087/original/rkq9pcpp-1342577192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: map of Port Pirie with EPA lead-in-air sample sites and playgrounds marked. The Port Pirie smelter is located at the north of the town.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image taken from Google Maps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Muliple dust-wipes collected daily from surfaces at four Port Pirie playgrounds returned average lead values of 3286 µg/m2, compared to 18.9 µg/m2 at a control playground at Port Augusta, 85 kilometres to the north. The Port Pirie values exceeded the Western Australia (WA) Health lead-level of 400 µg/m2, which was applied as a goal for surfaces accessible to children as part of the recent <a href="http://www.oncue.org.au/">Esperance lead clean up program</a>.</p>
<p>We also collected hand wipes before and after 20 minutes of timed play at each playground. Hand lead is of greater concern because young children tend to put their hands in their mouths, and it is therefore a significant pathway for childhood lead exposure. Memorial Park playground, the playground closest to the smelter that we sampled (figure 1), returned the highest lead-loadings after 20 minutes of play, with a daily mean increase of approximately 18,158 µg/m2. Overall, approximately 95% of all post-play hand-wipe samples from Port Pirie playgrounds exceeded the WA Health clean up goal of 400 µg/m2. By contrast, no samples from the control playground at Port Augusta exceeded the lead goal.</p>
<p>We have also examined the relationship between lead-in-air at the time of the study and our dust measurements. The data show that for each 1% increase in air lead (µg/m3), surface dust loading at playground sites increased by 0.713%. In addition, for each 1% increase in air-lead the post-play lead on hands increased by 0.612%. Thus, the evidence shows that airborne lead is significantly contaminating playgrounds.</p>
<p>These findings are not dissimilar to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9841811">previous studies</a> completed in Port Pirie that have shown that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10535148">atmospheric emissions</a> are the primary source of lead exposure. Therefore, it is misleading and a gross over-simplification to argue that the lead problem in Port Pirie is caused by legacy effects, without reference to the ongoing smelter-emissions.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC07p27.pdf">far back as 1976</a>, the CSIRO demonstrated that the smelter had contaminated soils, grains, and vegetables around the Port Pirie area. A further CSIRO study in 1981 <a href="http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC28p27.pdf">confirmed the negative impact</a> of smelter emissions on environmental quality around Port Pirie. In 2004, Crikey reported that grain from the Port Pirie area had to be blended because cadmium and lead levels <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2004/11/09/port-pirie-and-sa-grains-blending/">exceeded internationally accepted standards</a>.</p>
<p>The impact of the smelter can also be understood by examining [SA Health’s blood-lead monitoring of children](http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0/TechnicalPaper-PHCS-SS-2011.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0](http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0/TechnicalPaper-PHCS-SS-2011.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=51cd28804a5ce70dbf57ff7633bbffe0). This monitoring data shows that in 2011, 25.5% of children (excluding the use of surrogate values) under 5 years-of-age have elevated blood-lead values, i.e. more than 10 µg/dL - the Australian national goal for blood lead in children.</p>
<p>Even though children are born with relatively low blood-lead levels (predominantly well below 5 µg/dL), <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16823398">research shows</a> that blood leads rise rapidly from 2 to 3 months of age, demonstrating that infants cannot escape the environmental lead emissions. At this age, children would not have been crawling and would have been lying in their bed, receiving lead-dust on their hands, face, clothes, and cot. </p>
<p>By the time children are 24-months-old, the geometric mean blood lead level is 6.1 µg/dL, which is beyond the level at which the US National Toxicology Program identified <a href="http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/NTP/ohat/Lead/Final/MonographHealthEffectsLowLevelLead_prepublication_508.pdf">multiple adverse health effects in children</a>. Indeed, in May 2012, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered their action threshold blood-lead to 5.0 µg/dL after accepting the weight of evidence for no safe threshold and the need to intervene much earlier to limit damage to children.</p>
<p><strong>The most lead-contaminated town in Australia</strong></p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13102/original/26vxr47r-1342587232.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Port Pirie’s CBD, with the lead-smelter’s chimney overlooking the town.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Royston Rascals</span></span>
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<p>The EPA’s 2010 air quality raw data shows that the city is blanketed regularly in elevated lead in air emissions. These emissions contaminate the whole town, its soils, exterior and interior surfaces, and then children’s hands. <a href="http://www.scew.gov.au/nepms/reports.html#aaq-annual">National air quality data</a> shows that Port Pirie is unequivocally the most lead-contaminated urban environment in Australia. Another health pollutant, sulfur dioxide, exceeded the national 1-hour standard <a href="http://www.scew.gov.au/nepms/reports.html#aaq-annual">44 times in 2010</a>. Sulfur dioxide affects respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Childhood blood-lead exposures are more than twice those recorded anywhere else in Australia - higher than Broken Hill or Mount Isa. While these are uncomfortable facts, especially for young families in the city, they need to know the truth so that they can make fully informed choices. </p>
<p><strong>While government knows the truth, the public wait for effective action</strong></p>
<p>It is also clear that there has been and continues to be significant government knowledge of the true nature and extent of the problem. The fact that the politicians have not acted on the evidence demonstrates they have ignored the information coming from their staff, and/or have not had the willpower or commitment over the last 30 years to take effective action to eliminate preventable and damaging exposures once and for all. In <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18152100?selectedversion=NBD3393160">1983 Dr Phillip Landrigan</a>, a world-renowned paediatrician called for urgent action in his report that was commissioned by the then-health minister. He identified that airborne lead and its accidental ingestion from atmospherically contaminated dust and soil were the main sources of exposure.</p>
<p>While it acknowledged that some useful work was undertaken by the Task Force set up in 1983 to deal with the problem and tens of millions of dollars have been spent, the <a href="http://www.tenby10.com/">tenby10 goal</a> of reducing blood lead levels of 95% of children up to the age of four to below 10 µg/dL by the end of 2010 failed.</p>
<p>It has failed because the clean-up of household dusts and soils was incomplete and, more importantly, the primary source for lead exposure - smelter emissions - was not eliminated. As a result, businesses, houses, playgrounds, schools, and outdoor areas have been further contaminated. </p>
<p><strong>Residents advised to protect themselves</strong></p>
<p>Residents are advised to protect themselves in their homes by washing hands, surfaces and food and to not transport in dust and soil from outside. This approach is problematic for two reasons:</p>
<p>(1) A recent review of household interventions for preventing domestic lead exposure in children finds that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006047.pub3/abstract;jsessionid=670DBB2347DF5C6EC90306000ED1E709.d03t04">household interventions do not work</a>;</p>
<p>(2) Asking home owners to protect themselves from a seriously polluting industry instead of implementing complete or more effective emission capture is simply inappropriate and unreasonable.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13103/original/fv2qztvs-1342587572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Telling people to wash their hands is not good enough.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/firexbrat</span></span>
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<p><strong>Lead pollution still pouring from the smelter</strong></p>
<p>Due to a lack of adequate action to limit or eliminate Port Pirie’s <a href="http://www.npi.gov.au/npidata/action/load/individual-facility-detail/criteria/state/SA/year/2011/jurisdiction-facility/SA0018;jsessionid=6B0B5F67AEDA65A3CBDAEF445F8B0E93">significant smelter emissions</a> (44,000 tonnes of lead into the air in 2011), lead-rich particulates continue to contaminate indoor and outdoor surfaces, and soils, as well as the atmosphere. As a result, blood-lead poisoning is almost an inevitability for residents of the city, especially children.</p>
<p>The only conclusion one can draw from the failure to eliminate preventable lead exposure in Port Pirie is that there has been an absence of decisive and competent leadership from successive governments over the last 30 years. </p>
<p>In order to break the cycle of exposure and poisoning there needs to be a quantum shift in the approach to the problem at Port Pirie, including more transparent and accurate reporting. Solutions might entail smelter closure or perhaps, as is being suggested, a refit with modern, clean technology coupled to comprehensive soil and household dust remediation across the city. Both treatments are required to reduce exposures significantly.</p>
<p>Preventable, elevated blood lead values are unacceptable for any child. The source and extent of the problem in Port Pirie have been established and the solutions are well known to <a href="http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm">industry professionals</a>. The unanswered question is whether the South Australian government is going to resolve this problem finally or if they will <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/3/7/4/%7B37416853-BDE6-43D4-9743-3C3A4E605131%7Dwhitecollar.pdf">fold once again</a> because of the fear of losing the industry and jobs.</p>
<p><em>Comments welcome below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Taylor received payment from the Environment Protection Authority, South Australia for the following piece of work:
Taylor, M.P. 2011. Report for the Environment Protection Authority, South Australia:
Examination of the relationship between Nyrstar Port Pirie Pty Ltd smelter, airborne lead
emissions and environmental health impacts, pp. 66. Expert Witness report for a criminal
prosecution case.</span></em></p>It is shocking to discover that more than 3000 children have been lead poisoned in the South Australian town of Port Pirie during the last decade. Whilst Australia continues to be a world leader in lead…Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor in Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.