Soil lead levels in parks and playgrounds: an environmental risk assessment in Newcastle

In June 1993 the National Health and Medical Research Council set a national goal for blood lead of below 10 micrograms/dl. There is a need to know if the lead contamination of the urban environment is so high as to put community health at risk. Decisions, including whether soil should be removed and replaced, will have to be made. During the second half of 1993, an environmental assessment of lead contamination of soil within the City of Newcastle was conducted. Samples, 108 from surface soil and 10 from subsurface soil, were taken from public parks and playgrounds in the city area and analysed for lead content. The proportion within and the proportion above the guidelines for soil contamination were reported. Lead concentrations ranged from 25 to 2400 parts per million (ppm); 21 per cent of samples had concentrations higher than the 300 ppm action level, and the geometric mean was 134 ppm. Both the range and the average lead levels were typically no more than, or were even less than, soil lead levels documented for other cities in Australia, the United States and United Kingdom. Although each sampling site was noted, it was not our intention to focus in on individual sites. Indeed, to draw health-risk implications from any one result may be misleading and inaccurate. The results indicated moderate lead contamination of soil that could be controlled by regular top-dressing of soils, the use of bark chip on playground surfaces and by government initiatives aimed at lowering lead levels in petrol.