Heavy Metal Pollution of Soils and Risk Assessment in Houston, Texas Following Hurricane Harvey

Details

• Journal Article:
  Environmental Pollution
• Personal Author:
  Han, Inkyu ; Whitworth, Kristina W. ; Christensen, Bryan E. ; Afshar, Masoud ; An Han, Heyreoun ; Rammah, Amal ; Oluwadairo, Temitope ; Symanski, Elaine
• Description:
  In August 2017, after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, almost 52 inches of rain fell during a three-day period along the Gulf Coast Region of Texas, including Harris County, where Houston is located. Harris County was heavily impacted with over 177,000 homes and buildings (approximately 12 percent of all buildings in the county) experiencing flooding. The objective of this study was to measure 13 heavy metals in soil in residential areas and to assess cancer and non-cancer risk for children and adults after floodwaters receded. Between September and November 2017, we collected 174 surface soil samples in 10 communities, which were classified as "High Environmental Impact" or "Low Environmental Impact" communities, based on a composite metric of six environmental parameters. A second campaign was conducted between May 2019 and July 2019 when additional 204 soil samples were collected. Concentrations of metals at both sampling campaigns were higher in High Environmental Impact communities than in Low Environmental Impact communities and there was little change in metal levels between the two sampling periods. The Pollution Indices of lead (Pb), zinc, copper, nickel, and manganese in High Environmental Impact communities were significantly higher than those in Low Environmental Impact communities. Further, cancer risk estimates in three communities for arsenic through soil ingestion were greater than 1 in 1,000,000. Although average soil Pb was lower than the benchmark of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the hazard indices for non-cancer outcomes in three communities, mostly attributed to Pb, were greater than 1. Health risk estimates for children living in these communities were greater than those for adults. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cyclonic Storms Environmental Pollution Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Hurricane; Flooding; Heavy Metal; Soil Exposure; Children; Risk Assessment Environmental Contamination; Heavy Metals; Soil Sampling; Floods; Hurricanes; Natural Disasters; Children; Risk Assessment;
• Source:
  Environ Pollut 2022 Mar; 296:118717
• ISSN:
  0269-7491
• Pubmed ID:
  34933061
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8883480
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Pennsylvania ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• Volume:
  296
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065515
• Contact Point Address:
  Elaine Symanski, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
• Email:
  Elaine.Symanski@bcm.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ffce2bf0f6f9dc6e2c05a3f4f13e88099e9e3a3e3bb4ed36c8c0dc1e79a0ab0e276b1eca1d0a89252eba48ee9a8be48d0b091f605b053fbbc05b03c1333f68a7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/114975/cdc_114975_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.35 MB ]