Initial tests: No toxic lead dust in Picher air
Residents returning to Picher to recover their belongings from a weekend tornado are not in danger of inhaling toxic lead dust, according to initial air quality tests released today by the Environmental Protection Agency.
However, agency officials still are warning residents to wear dust masks and gloves while they dig through the rubble of their homes, said Dave Bary, spokesman for the EPA’s office in Dallas. The precautions are designed to prevent the storm’s victims from inhaling lead. Picher, which is a former lead and zinc mining town in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, is surrounded by 150-foot mountains of mining waste that contain toxic metals. Officials and residents worry tornadoes that tore through the town on Saturday could have scattered dangerous heavy metals around Picher. Lead, which is a dangerous neurotoxin, clings to dust particles and can be breathed into the lungs. Pieces of the potentially toxic gravel are visible in the town’s soil, and one resident said his home was “sandblasted” by the gravel during the storm.
Related Topics:
Health and Fitness, Weather, Nature and the Environment, Environmental Cleanup, Natural Disasters, Tornadoes, Accidents and Disasters, Environmental Public Health, Environmental Issues and Protection, Public Health
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