Composted Biosolids Bind Lead In Soil, Reducing Danger Of Poisoning

Potentially hundreds of thousands of residential yards are contaminated with lead in Baltimore and other inner cities, according to Sally L. Brown, University of Washington research assistant professor of forest resources and lead author of an article in the current issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality. Even yards that were never near smelter operations can have contaminated soils because of lead-based paints from older buildings and auto exhaust from leaded gasoline. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 50 percent of inner-city children in the United States have lead levels in their blood high enough to cause irreversible damage to their health.
Biosolids are the organic residuals produced during wastewater treatment. Once composted, biosolids look like other commercially available composts and are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a soil amendment by home gardeners, farmers and others. Composted biosolids are comprised of 50% or more organic matter, along with high concentrations of iron, phosphorus, and manganese proven to reduce lead availability in soils according to studies published in 1999 and 2000.
Using composted biosolids to remediate soils would be far less costly than other alternatives, Brown says. While soil contaminated with lead might be removed and replaced if it was at a Superfund site that is just not possible within cities.

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