CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Durham found unsafe levels of lead in the soil at five of their parks. But the Town of Chapel Hill isn’t worried about finding similar results.
In August, the city of Durham said that there were unsafe levels of lead in the soil of five city parks. This confirmed results from a study at Duke University that found unsafe levels of lead in the soil of three parks last December.
The EPA considers soil unsafe if it has lead levels higher than 400 parts per million. In East Durham park, contaminated samples had lead levels as high as 2630 parts per million.
The concern is that children could be exposed to lead in the soil by swallowing or breathing it in. The contaminated soil could also be brought indoors on shoes, clothing, or pets.
A follow up study published last month says that parks around the country could also be contaminated from trash incinerators decades ago, just like the parks in Durham.
Daniel Richter, a professor of soils and forest ecology at Duke who worked on both studies, says that the use of incinerators across North America could have left toxic chemicals in hundreds of parks.
“Probably from 1885, when the first incinerator in America was opened in New York City to the mid-sixties, perhaps half of the US cities and Canadian cities burned trash and garbage without appreciation for its danger,” Richter said.
But according to the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation department, Chapel Hill park goers have nothing to be worried about.
In a statement, the department said that they do not routinely test for lead, but that their safety and inspection protocols meet park and recreation industry standards. If there was an environmental or historical concern with a property, the department says they would test it for lead.