March 1, 2001
Contact:Christian BasiAssistant Director for News(573) 882-4430[email protected]
HOGS AND HEAVY METAL: MU RESEARCHER USES PIGS TO PRIORITIZE EPA CLEAN-UP SITESby Ben Kampelman
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- You might not see it, but it's there. Chemical and heavy metal contamination, a health threat, lies silently in our backyards. Now, a University of Missouri Columbia researcher is reducing this threat and the cost of eliminating it.
Stan Casteel, associate professor in MU's College of Veterinary Medicine, is using pigs to represent children who might be exposed to heavy metal contamination at approximately 900 Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites. The project is funded by the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, with the intention of making Superfund clean up decisions more science-based through specific site research reports. Currently, Casteel is working on three EPA site reports.
The metals that pose the greatest threats are lead, arsenic and cadmium. These chemicals can enter the bloodstream easily and have adverse effects on humans, especially children. Studies have found between one and 90 percent of the metals are absorbed into the bloodstream, depending on the chemical form and the associated soil composition. Prior to Casteel's research, the EPA assumed an average absorption rate for all lead in soil, which made a priority clean-up list difficult to make.
"Once the EPA receives the report, they decide whether or not to clean the site and when," Casteel said. "In some cases, I've found only two percent of the lead is available for absorption and have saved a lot of money in clean-up costs -- up to 50 percent. Money from these savings is then redirected toward cleaning up sites with high lead availability."
In addition to Casteel's analysis studies, he also has experimented with a phosphorus application that can reduce the lead available for absorption by close to 50 percent. Under direction of the MDNR, researchers cover the contaminated area with the phosphorus compound, which combines with lead to reduce the absorption rate.
Casteel said, if you suspect lead contamination on your property and cannot move out of the area, there are three things you can do to minimize the threat:
--Treat your lawn with compost.
--Treat the ground with a fertilizer that has a heavy phosphorus content.
--Make sure you have good lawn cover and that there is no bare soil. Plants act as a natural buffer zone between contaminated soil and you.
-30-
RSS