5 ms·

I'd rather avoid much of the residential dirt on the eastern coast of the US, especially in older towns, due the accumulation of decades, if not centuries, of l

I'd rather avoid much of the residential dirt on the eastern coast of the US, especially in older towns, due the accumulation of decades, if not centuries, of lead paint in the soil. In these parts, unless you've had it tested or you're living in a newer home with virgin soil, I'd think twice before letting the kids dig around too much. Lead exposure will negate any positive psychological effects of the dirt microbiome rather quickly.

rconti 9y ago
Maybe don't let them dig around the foundation of a house with old paint on it... but just general dirt in the environment seems really unlikely to contain much lead. Not speaking from experience here, just speculating...
- sdiupIGPWEfh 9y ago
  Which is fine and all if you're acutely aware of the risk, but most residential dirt readily available for digging in happens to be in the garden beds around houses and garages, right were flaking paint has been accumulating. The dirt people are likely digging in, if they're in an older community, isn't just any old random dirt. Also, most parents I've known aren't too keen on holes in the middle of the yard, away from the house. https://www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead#soil https://www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead#... Rather than take my word for it, there are plenty of federal, state, and county resources which can give you some idea of the likely lead levels to be found in your area and extrapolate from there. I'm not in the safest area myself, but I hope you find it's not something you yourself have to worry about.
zkms 9y ago
Lead (and other toxic heavy metal) contamination is so fucked up. I hate how much attention and fear has been given to nuclear power / radioactivity while we cheerfully spent the entire 20th century contaminating everything with bioaccumulative toxic metals. At least radioactive waste / fallout has the grace of fucking decaying.
- bluGill 9y ago
  Radioactive waste often decays into lead. (generally after 30 steps of decay - some of the intermediate steps are a radioactive lead that decays to something else and then back to lead) Here is the chart for radon http://www.ccnr.org/radon_chart.html http://www.ccnr.org/radon_chart.html (radon is of course natural not waste)

rconti 9y ago

Maybe don't let them dig around the foundation of a house with old paint on it... but just general dirt in the environment seems really unlikely to contain much lead. Not speaking from experience here, just speculating...

sdiupIGPWEfh 9y ago
Which is fine and all if you're acutely aware of the risk, but most residential dirt readily available for digging in happens to be in the garden beds around houses and garages, right were flaking paint has been accumulating. The dirt people are likely digging in, if they're in an older community, isn't just any old random dirt. Also, most parents I've known aren't too keen on holes in the middle of the yard, away from the house. https://www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead#soil https://www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead#... Rather than take my word for it, there are plenty of federal, state, and county resources which can give you some idea of the likely lead levels to be found in your area and extrapolate from there. I'm not in the safest area myself, but I hope you find it's not something you yourself have to worry about.

zkms 9y ago

Lead (and other toxic heavy metal) contamination is so fucked up. I hate how much attention and fear has been given to nuclear power / radioactivity while we cheerfully spent the entire 20th century contaminating everything with bioaccumulative toxic metals. At least radioactive waste / fallout has the grace of fucking decaying.

bluGill 9y ago
Radioactive waste often decays into lead. (generally after 30 steps of decay - some of the intermediate steps are a radioactive lead that decays to something else and then back to lead) Here is the chart for radon http://www.ccnr.org/radon_chart.html http://www.ccnr.org/radon_chart.html (radon is of course natural not waste)