APPLYING THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM URBAN GEOCHEMICAL MAPPING IN SYRACUSE NY TO PEDIATRIC LEAD EXPOSURE PROBLEMS IN TEXAS

Elevated pediatric blood Pb (PbB) levels (the commonly used Pb exposure metric), can still be found in older, longer inhabited, urban communities. A prime example of this is the city of Galveston where the number of children with elevated PbB concentrations (>10 ug/dL) is six times greater than the state average and ten times greater than the national average. In the case of Galveston, the children are largely exposed through ingestion of Pb contaminated dust and soil (Pb derived primarily from deteriorated old Pb-based paint). Similarly, but to a lesser extent, in the city of Lubbock, greater numbers of children with elevated PbB levels can be found in residential zip codes with a longer history of occupancy and with older homes. Pb contamination of soils and dusts here is likely due to a combination of inputs from old Pb-paint and from historic gasoline emitted Pb. Previously we conducted a multi-year urban geochemical mapping study in Syracuse NY that utilized measurements of Pb in residential soils and indoor dusts. Inner city zip codes in Syracuse have had some of the highest percentages of elevated PbBs in New York State. The Syracuse mapping project identified older inner-city areas as having the highest soil and dust Pb levels, and these areas corresponded to those with populations with higher PbB levels. In an effort to move towards Pb exposure prevention, we assessed how well Pb levels in environmental media can be used to predict elevated PbB values in inner-city children. Using the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children (IEUBK model), inputting only soil Pb values at the census tract (CT) level, we found a close correspondence between those CTs with actual and those with model predicted higher percentages of elevated PbBs. Based on this type of study, we posit that it is possible to move toward a Pb exposure prevention paradigm for “at risk” populations in Texas based on media measurements and modeling, and away from the current risk response paradigm based on interventions following the identification of already Pb poisoned children.