Exposure to lead can be dangerous, especially for kids. It can cause learning problems and slower development. If you live in an older home, lead might be in the paint on your walls or in the soil around your home.
If you want to check the lead levels near you, you can grab a free testing kit from any of the Indianapolis Public Library’s 25 locations. The samples you collect will go to the IU Indianapolis Center for Urban Health, where the center’s director, Gabriel Filippelli, is studying lead in Indianapolis.
In return for sending the researchers data, you’ll get a report detailing whether the samples contained lead and how you can reduce your exposure to it.
Want to learn more about lead poisoning or being a citizen scientist? Check out the Indianapolis Public Library’s reading list.
How to test your soil for lead
- Go to a library location and ask a staff member where to find a lead testing kit. They will hand you a small brown paper bag. Inside, there are instructions and four plastic baggies.
- Start with the three bags labeled with colored dots. Grab a garden trowel or small shovel and collect soil from three spots: close to the street, in the middle of your yard, and in your home’s drip line. The drip line is the area within two to three feet of your home where rain from the gutter may drain.
- Next, get out your vacuum cleaner or broom. Put some dust from your home into the last baggie.
- Put all the baggies into the brown paper bag and drop it off at any library location. Or, you can send it to professor Gabriel Filippelli at the IU Center for Urban Health, 723 W. Michigan St. SL 118, Indianapolis, IN, 46202.
Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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