The NSF grant will support research of soil lead in the US, Chile, UK, and Australia, four regions with distinctive roles in the lead industry. The main goal is to understand how people in each area create knowledge about soil lead, develop and promote methods to reduce exposures, and change the social and economic circumstances in which lead exposures occur. By “following the chemical” across four areas, from lead mines to the soils of urban neighborhoods, there is potential to affect environmental politics and policy, offering new ways to conceptualize the global problem of lead residues, while illuminating possible solutions that are emerging in particular locales.
Check out the NSF award page for the project and the RPI press release!