Children are more likely than adults to ingest surface soil contamination.
Studies have demonstrated that the children living in the area of surface soil contamination have higher blood lead levels than the levels of children living outside the area of contamination. Remediation of the contaminated soils should remove this public health hazard. Environmental monitoring studies conducted in the past indicate that individuals may have been exposed to cadmium, lead, zinc, and sulfuric acid at levels which could result in adverse health effects. The 1970s blood cadmium and blood lead studies demonstrated that children living near the smelter were exposed to elevated levels of cadmium and lead. Individuals who were exposed in the past to the air emissions from the smelter and the surface soil contamination could have experienced decreased hemoglobin synthesis, anemia, increased blood pressure, impaired hearing and growth, slightly decreased IQs, and encephalopathy.