Mapping ghost smelters: Understanding health risks and environmental injustice behind the historical lead smelters in the United States

Keywords: environmental pollution, environmental health justice, soil lead, health risks
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 30

Abstract

Secondary lead (Pb) smelters flourished across the United States between 1930s and late 1960s. While the majority of facilities are long gone, the facilities emitted toxic heavy metals such as Pb persist in the soil of the residential areas at or near these historical smelters. The exposure to the Pb-contaminated soil poses great danger to the health of young children; even tiny intake of Pb can affect children’s mental and physical development in a long run. A total of 431 historical lead smelters in the United States was previously identified by researchers in 2001; these “ghost smelters” were largely unknown to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While the EPA initiated an investigation on these sites for potential superfund sites between 2012 and 2017, the majority of these historical lead smelters to date are still not remediated. In this project, we aim to visualize the locations of these historical secondary lead smelters and to spatially quantify the health risks of the uncleaned historical smelters to the surrounding communities. The smelter locations will be verified using present-day online resources and geocoded before mapping using a geographic information system (GIS). We will use statistical and spatial analysis to identify the relationships between these ghost smelters and the sociodemographic factors and health indicators in their surrounding neighborhoods. The outcome of this project will further our understanding on the extent of environmental health injustice embedded in our built environment.