Researcher Works on Greener Gardens, Cleaner Waterways - Even Healthier Astroturf

Newswise — Dan Brabander wants to put the green in " and take the lead out of " urban gardens. As associate professor of geosciences at Wellesley College, his focus is on environmental geochemistry and public health.

To that end, he has received funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has formed a partnership with Boston's Food Project, a nonprofit organization that helps foster organic urban gardens. For the past five years, Brabander and his Wellesley College student researchers have been testing for lead contamination in urban backyard gardens in Boston neighborhoods.

"After analyzing over a thousand soil samples we have determined that some neighborhoods' average soil lead concentrations are over twice the EPA action level," Brabander said.

Lead is a known neurotoxin. Elevated blood lead levels in children can lead to permanent neurocognitive problems, and even low-level lead exposure can cause cognitive deficits. Due to lead abatement programs and removal of lead from paint and gasoline, the problem has been improved. Nevertheless, as of 2002, 310,000 U.S. children were affected by elevated lead levels in their blood.

"Our central question is, what are the exposure pathways to lead in the urban environment and what measures can be taken to mitigate sources?" Brabander asks.

He recently had a paper on the topic published in the journal Environmental Research, co-authored with two Wellesley undergraduates with majors in environmental science and geoscience.

In addition to urban gardens, Brabander's band of students are examining the legacy of industrialization in the Neponset River watershed in an effort to prioritize areas for remediation and are determining if pigments used in artificial playing fields can leach from the fields and contaminate ground water.

The Neponset River work is in collaboration with the Neponset River Watershed Association, a not-for-profit agency that sponsors the research.

"It's research in geosciences that links the college with nongovernmental agencies, that excites students and allows us to both make a difference and do science," Brabander said.

Wellesley juniors Megan Carter-Thomas and Emily Estes are two students in Brabander's environmental geochemistry laboratory who have worked toward a cleaner environment during their college years.

Estes, of Buckland, Mass., a geosciences and environmental studies double major, is involved in all three areas of research, including looking at "industrial pollutants in the Neponset River watershed, the potential risk posed by lead- and chromium-bearing pigment in Astroturf and a project evaluating lead contamination in urban gardens," she said. "For the last project, we thought about remediation schemes to permanently remove lead or at least reduce exposure."

One of the ways soil can be remediated is to introduce plants that absorb lead, thus removing it from the soil. Another option is to build raised planting beds to isolate leafy vegetables from the contaminated soils.

Estes finds the work satisfying, she said, "because it requires drawing connections between chemistry and biology and thinking broadly about the actual risks posed to humans, which in turn relates to the social justice side of my interests," she said.

Not one to focus all her "green" efforts in the classroom, Estes belongs to a student environmental group, Wellesley Energy and Environmental Defense (WEED), and lives in Wellesley's new-this-year Sustainability Co-op, a residence option that focuses on sustainable practices.

Carter-Thomas, of Brentwood, N.H., has been studying artificial turf used on sports playing fields.

"Recently there's been a lot of skepticism concerning the safety of artificial turf fields," she said. Because such fields often bake under a hot sun, high temperatures may exacerbate the leaching of chemicals.

"While turf fields differ in exact composition, the pigment in the grass fibers is often lead chromate," Carter-Thomas said. "Lead and chromium can have serious effects on the ecosystem. Our research is focused on whether the lead chromate pigment encapsulated in the grass fibers has the potential to leach. For example, are these metals traveling downward and eventually into groundwater?"

Brabander is what he calls a "biogeochemist." His research will always be a work-in-progress, in which students continue to play an important role. Recent research projects delve further into the realm of medical geology with colleagues from Children's Hospital in Boston and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Brabander's lab is now investigating the lead concentrations in Indian spices and religious powders and evaluating these exposure pathways for young children.

"Our research involves learning how chemicals in the environment impact human health," Brabander explained, adding with a smile, "Don't you want to be a biogeochemist?"

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries.

NOTE: Publication quality photos are available from Wellesley College by contacting the Office for Public Affairs at 781-283-2901 or 781-283-3321.