Lead and Soil

Summer Sprout and Land Bank Soil Testing in Cleveland. 

May 12, 2025​. Signal Cleveland. Gardening in Cleveland? Here’s how to test your soil for lead​. ​"It’s planting season for leafy greens and summer veggies in Cleveland.​ But before you get those seeds in the ground, officials say it’s a good practice in post-industrial Cuyahoga County to test your garden soil for lead. Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, including developmental delays in children.​ Lead primarily poses a hazard when its particles are inhaled or consumed – such as through small amounts of dirt left behind on unwashed hands or produce. Plants themselves don’t absorb large amounts of lead from the surrounding soil except for certain root vegetables, according to the Ohio Department of Health. ​'If there’s any lead in the soil – or high levels – you are exposing yourself to that lead in the soil, you know, just by digging in there,​' said Amy Roskilly, the conservation education and communications manager at the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. ​Thanks Celia for pulling together this helpful information.

May 2, 2025 -- From Cleveland Department of Public Health--Pixler, Zainab <Zpixler@clevelandohio.gov> via SignalCleveland.

The Land Bank updated their policies to: less than 200ppm is permissible, between 200ppm-700ppm would need a raised bed, and above 700ppm would not be permitted for urban ag use.

Here are a couple of resources:

• Land Bank Guide for Urban Ag (from 2021) — note: some policies/procedures have changed. Sharing to illustrate soil testing has been required for some time. 

• Land Bank FAQs (current) — See last page regarding urban ag where soil testing is mentioned.

• The Ohio State University Extention's Soil Testing Fact Sheet 

As mentioned, there are no low-cost or free testing available to urban agriculturalists outside of the Summer Sprout program that I'm aware of. The EPA hosted free soil testing last year, though I'm not sure they will continue that this year. I do know a farmer who recently paid $25 to test a soil sample through Penn State. I have not heard that soil testing is cost-prohibitive, especially compared to the other costs of operating a garden/farm (water, land, materials, seeds/plants, etc).

Summer Sprout is its own program, that has its own criteria. Soil tests are collected by OSUE and covered through the program. 

Thanks again for your work on this!

May 6, 2025 -- Morning S. Robinson of The Ohio State University

The Extension office is in the process of collecting soil samples from all registered Summer Sprout program gardens for the 2025 growing season for heavy metal screening. Gardens must test below 200ppm of lead and have low concentrations of Arsenic and Cadmium in the soil to begin receiving resources such as seeds and starter plants through the program. Communications have gone out to Summer Sprout garden leaders regarding the new environmental review process. Home gardeners and community gardens outside of the Summer Sprouts program can submit a soil sample and pay for a heavy metal screening through the OSU SWEL lab or other similar labs. If I have not answered the question or there is still confusion about the program, please let me know. Thank you for reaching out,

May 6, 2025 -- Update from Dr. Nicholas Basta at OSU's Soil, Water and Environment Lab

Our Soil Water and Environment Lab (SWEL) performs soil testing for the summer sprouts program.  we are international experts at Pb / heavy metal testing and perform testing for USEPA, OEPA, USGS, etc. 

testing at our lab for summer sprout is $15/sample (cheap).   All candidate urban food producing gardens should be tested for lead.  We are happy to do that

We realize USEPA dropped the soil screening level from 400 to 200 / 100 ppm .  However, soils already tested do not need to be tested again. 

I haven’t heard about the “who will pay for this”  but this should NOT be a barrier. 

How many samples are at issue?  lets get past this. we can test soils directly for you –if there isn’t many—we can do it pro bono

I am more concerned about soil remediation of soil in Cleveland.   It isn’t that expensive, and I am shocked Cleveland may lose funds on lead remediation! Don’t lose funding needed to fix the Pb problem in Cleveland.  Happy to talk with the City about two things

(i)             on site soil amendments with quality topsoil to remediate lead – up to 80% of Pb exposure can come from outside soil

(ii)            reactive paint (ecoBond lead defender) –buy it at home depot at same price as regular paint.  https://www.homedepot.com/p/ECOBOND-LBP-Lead-Defender-PRO-1-Gal-Off-White-Flat-Lead-Based-Paint-Treatment-and-Sealant-ECO-LBP-1001-P/202830398

Paint over lead painted walls.  Our research shows 88% reduction in lead exposure if children EAT the treated paint.  likely a 100% reduction without eating the paint. will HUD entertain this approach and fix the lead paint problem in homes?  fresh coat of phosphorus impregnated paint –done!  who doesn’t like a freshly painted house?

see https://ecobondlbp.com/homeowner/what-is-ecobond-lead-defender

Would like to arrange a meeting to discuss these approaches.

I will ask OSU Extension what the issue is on the payment for soil samples –lets get past this –we can retest at pro bono if the City is willing to talk about solutions to protect public health.  we have solutions and would very much like to discuss them with you in person

From CLASH Stay in Touch May 3, 2025

• CLASH has one inquiry from a reliable source who wants to help. We're following up.

• CLASH have a report from a reliable source that the Summer Sprout program will be making an announcement on lead testing. We're waiting impatiently.

• CLASH has reached out to the CDC's ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) about possibly participating in one or more SoilSHOP events in Cleveland in 2025. No response yet.

From CLASH Stay in Touch April 26, 2025 Edition

Ashley Schreder from Ward 3 raised the issue of soil lead testing in the Summer Sprout program at Monday night's City Council meeting. You can hear her remarks here, beginning at 36 minutes. This is a real issue for Clevelanders who are doing urban gardening projects. Nick Castele from Signal covered some of the issues in a March 1, 2025 interview with Ms. Schreder, but she is not alone in raising the issue of the cost of new lead testing.   Ms. Schreder told CLASH: "Testing need to be local to Cleveland and available". Anyone in CLASH-land interested in helping?

• • Why should gardeners bear the costs of testing the soil or should the costs be a part of the 2025 agreement between the city and OSU? 

  • If the soil plots were previously shown to be below the new EPA standards, should they be required to test again? 

  • Are the water lines that supply many of the gardens actually made of lead?

Next steps

CLASH will send a request for assistance to our Lead Professionals listserve. As you may know owning an XRF machine is just a starter. Besides the $25K cost, soil sampling with an XRF machine requires setting the machine to sample soil as well as paint, training the operator, getting a state license to operate a device that uses radioactivity.

Chemical testing is slower but more accurate than XRF. Ohio State's Lab can do chemical testing. https://dirt.osu.edu/testing.  An approved commercial testing lab that CLASH has used is Accurate Analytical Testing in Michigan.

CLASH will also reach out to Anthony Weaver of Lead Paint Detectives in Toledo to see if he has experience with Lumetallix on soil samples. There are two downsides to this new product

• Lumetallix is not approved by the State of Ohio or USEPA, but the product has remarkable results. 

• Alas, Lumetallix will only give a yes or no answer to the presence of lead....no indication of the level of lead exposure. While there is no safe level of lead...the EPA current standard in 200 parts per million (PPM).

In 2023 and 2024, CLASH sponsored SoilSHOP events in conjunction with the US EPA Region 5. They suddenly pulled out of our final workshop last August and, since the new Administration has taken over we have lost all our contacts with them. It *might* be worth an effort to reach out to the new Regional director Anne Vogel who is the former director of the Ohio EPA. 

Let CLASH know if you have discover any other testing resources for home gardeners. 

In the News

• 06-14-2024. The Conversation. What the EPA’s new standard for lead in soil could mean for households. "When the standard is adjusted down to the proposed level of 200 parts per million, 23.7% of households—nearly one in four—contain a lead hazard. [.....] Children can be exposed to lead by swallowing or inhaling soil while they are playing. Young children often put their hands in their mouths and may have dirt on their hands. Kids and pets also can track lead dust from soil indoors. And anyone who eats fruit or vegetables grown in contaminated soil can ingest lead. Early in 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered the screening level for lead in residential soils from 400 parts per million—a standard that was more than 30 years old—to 200 parts per million. This more protective lower number reflects current understanding of soil as a significance source of lead exposure for children. EPA officials said that at homes exposed to lead from multiple sources, the agency will generally use a more conservative 100 parts per million screening level. This new level is not a cleanup standard; it’s a threshold at which the EPA will make site-specific decisions about how to protect people there. Actions may include providing information about soil lead, recommending ways to reduce exposure, or removing the leaded soil and replacing it with clean soil. The standard is designed to guide EPA assessments of residential soils around polluted sites under two federal laws. The Superfund law addresses hazardous wastes that were improperly created or disposed of before 1976, while the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governs hazardous waste generation and disposal from that year forward. More than 4,000 sites across the nation are currently being cleaned up under those two laws. I study urban lead poisoning in children from soil and other sources, and I have worked with colleagues to analyze tens of thousands of soil samples collected from typical homes by research scientists and by citizens across the U.S. This work is ongoing, but our newly published findings show that under the new EPA standard, potentially harmful lead exposure from soil is far more widespread than many people—including public officials—realize. Reducing this risk will be a very long-term effort." Here's the link to the study 

• January 17, 2024. Press Release. Biden-Harris Administration Strengthens Safeguards to Protect Families and Children from Lead in Contaminated Soil at Residential Sites "Utilizing updated, best available science, EPA lowers screening levels for the first time in 30 years. [   ] EPA is lowering the screening level for lead in soil at residential properties from 400 parts per million (ppm) to 200 ppm. At residential properties with multiple sources of lead exposure, EPA will generally use 100 ppm as the screening level. Screening levels are not cleanup standards. While this update will help EPA site teams make site-specific cleanup decisions to protect nearby communities, EPA makes cleanup decisions specific to each site, using site-specific factors, including risk factors and community input that can vary from site to site. [   ]  While the guidance goes into effect immediately, EPA welcomes feedback from the public that may be considered in any future updates to the guidance. Please submit written feedback on the guidance in the public docket (Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2023-0664) for 60 days from January 17, 2024, to March 17, 2024.

Where do toxic hazards in soil come from?

• Abandoned automobiles can leak fluids on to the ground. Abandoned houses where there is chipping and peeling paint can spread lead dust to surrounding areas.

• Exhaust from leaded gasoline (outlawed in the mid1980s) are still lurking in bare soil areas. Sites where cars, trucks, and buses sat idling are likely sources of lead pollution.

• Highway and train overpasses are likely spots for lead contamination where structures are rusting and chipping.

• Industrial emissions from plants which process metals can travel from smokestacks for miles in all directions. You won’t know if you have toxic elements until your soil is tested.

• Demolished houses where there was lead paint were often buried on site. Over the years the lead in the buried debris can come to the surface where people walk and play.