EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Soil Testing for Various Heavy Metals in and around Some Schools of El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) W. L. Hargrove, Director I Amit Raysoni, Graduate Research Assistant and EPA Intern, .L.. and Michelle Del Rio, Program Coordinator all 7 -- (pal 4 ?23 216 (1,2 PM Center for Environmental Resource Management (CERM) The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) October 17, 2016 Summary of Results Heavy metal concentrations in 5011, federal and state guidelines for metals in soil, and locations of samples are presented in the next several tables and ?gures. Results were collected from Douglas, Zavala, and Beall Elementary Schools, and Bowie High School, in addition to some nearby locations. Table 1: Concentration of certain heavy metals at schools and various other locations in El Paso, measured by digestion and chemical analyses by ICP-MS. Location Lead (Pb) Arsenic (As) Zinc (Zn) Copper (Cu) Film Film Douglas Elementary School Eucalyptus and Cypress St (across 134 8 190 367 the street from Douglas Elementary) 3: Salazar Housing Complex 126 3 217 1110? Playground (next to metal recycling) Zavala Elementary School Kiss 7 202 - 132* '333?0?5?74'59n? 2: Behind Zavaala Ele'r?nentary School 74 6 96 44.8 (Perm Latta St) 5: Front of Zavala Elementary School 94 5 166 76.2 (Main Entrance Parking Lot) Bowie High School BHI Chamizal (Near Weather Station) 5 8 5 71 33.6 Tierra es Vida Community Garden 39 5 35 16.6 fl)" 3 . 'l ?243(1ch 79657? Table 2: Concentration of certain heavy metals at Real] elementary school and nearby locations, as measured by the instrument (before it malfunctioned). All values in parts per million (ppm), BD indicates ?Below Detection? No. Pb (Lead) As (Arsenic) Zn (Zinc) Cu (Copper) 1 (Front of Beall Elementary 57 BO 133 38 School - Piedras Street) 2 (Across the street from the 37 BO 144 62 school - Rivera AvenueTable 3. Federal/State Guidelines for Heavy Metal Levels in Soils Lead Arsenic Zincc (ppm) Copperd (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) Guidance Value Protective of Public 400 16 2200 270 Health? NYC Urban Background Levela 110 Bare soil in Children?s play areas? 400 Bare soil in Children?s non-play areasb 1200 Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities ?Metals in Urban Garden Soils Urban Garden Hazard Standards for Lead in Paint, Dust, and Soil (TSCA Section 403) Can be toxic to plants at levels below guidance values protective of public health Note: Based on the guidelines above and the concentration levels of the various heavy metals, it can be said that copper concentration levels are very high in two locations Salazar Housing Complex playground and the area across the street from Douglass Elementary School (Eucalyptus and Cypress Street). This is a cause of major public health concern as young children spend considerable amount of time playing in the Salazar playground. This playground is located adjoining the copper recycling plant. These results suggest a di5proportionately high copper exposure burden for children living in this residential complex. Douglas Elementary School The following are the ?ve location points from where soil core samples were retrieved at Douglas Elementary School Hm -Mm-rn- . . . I Douglas Elementaly . - .- . . - . - - ?wereSamvhoSmeCP-Msmw: - :1 ?rams" - a . - Mae: 2. a . 9' SuCovoSmSus Figure 1: Google Earth Image of the ?ve locations points at Douglas Elementary School Zavala Elementary School erm 4-. i Zavala Elementary School mlw?mh?anLF-Jr. rl,lu a. Figure 3: Google Earth Image of the three location points for the soil samples collected at Zavala Elementary School. Bowie High School g?I if Bowie High School 3 LscloonporrnroerF .- mum :21 u- . - mar??I'? Figure 5: Google Earth Image of the three location School. Both XRF and analysis were conducted on these soil samples. points for the soil samples collected at Bowie High SUMMARY 1. With respect to lowering the risk to children from environmental exposure of lead in soil, the current of?cial EPA guideline is 400 total lead. However, EPA is considering lowering this value to 150 since results have shown that much lower levels can put children at risk, depending on the bioavailability of the lead. Therefore, we would consider values greater than 400 as high risk and values between 150 and 400 as moderate to high risk, depending on lead bioavailability. The CDC has lowered critical blood levels for lead from IOug/dL to 5 pg/dL, but actually consider any level as ?not safe? for children. 2. Using these criteria, no sample that we collected at Beall, Douglas, Zavala, or Bowie schools met the high risk category for lead (>400 ppm). Two samples met the criteria for moderate risk; one at Douglas Elementary playground (218 ppm) and one at Zavala Elementary school (156 ppm). One other sample at Douglas Elementary (135 ppm), one sample across the street from the school (134 ppm), and one sample from the Salazar Housing Complex playground (126 ppm) were close to 150 ranging from 126-135 ppm. 3. All the samples collected from Beall, Bowie, and Zavala schools, with the exception of the one sample in front of Zavala school, could be considered low enough to be low to moderate risk depending on the bioavailability of the lead, ranging in total concentration from 13-99 lead. 4. In terms of other heavy metal elements, no excessive levels of arsenic, zinc, or copper were found with the exception of one sample from the Salazar Housing Complex. The sample from the children?s playground was very high in total copper (l 1 10 ppm). Neither EPA nor Texas has guidelines for capper, but the state of New York uses 270 as a guideline for children?s exposure. Clearly this one sample for the playground at Salazar exceeds this amount. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. At Zavala school, the one area that had a high concentration of soil lead was in front of the school in a playground designated for the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten children. The concentration of 156 would be considered a moderate risk for children and perhaps even a high risk for younger children who are more vulnerable. We recommend that this playground area be moved to an area with lower lead concentrations and to reduce the risk to the youngest and most vulnerable children. @e Douglas Elementary playground contains lead levels with low to moderate risk, but ending on the bioavailability of the lead (not measured) could be moderate to high risk. We recommend that EPISD consider some remedial action at this site. The simplest and most cost effective action could be simply hauling in soil with a much lower lead level and covering the playground with 1-2 inches of fresh soil. 3. The Salazar Housing Complex playground is very close to the metal recycling facility and has very high soil copper concentrations. We recommend that this playground be moved to a site at greater distance from the metal recycling plant. 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