Dan is working in the Ramírez-Andreotta laboratory with the field test for measuring lead in soil reported by Landes et al (2019) [open access article here]. He has completed measurements for the soil samples from public spaces in and around Troy, NY, as well as several soil samples archived in the Ramírez-Andreotta laboratory. He is now in the process of organizing and reviewing the resultant data to compare with the laboratory analyses of the soils in order to confirm that our use of the field kit compares favorably to the findings reported by Landes et al.
The picture below shows Dan’s setup in the laboratory for conducting the field test: (1) soil samples are first added to vials and mixed with acidic solutions to extract lead from the soils; (2) after an hour of the soil soaking in the acidic solution, a syringe and a filter is used to transfer just the solution to a second vial; (3) a gelatin capsule containing sodium rhodizonate is added to the solution in the second vial; (4) sodium rhodizonate turns purple in the presence of lead, with more lead leading to a more intense purple; and (5) the intensity of the color response reveals the amount of lead present in the soil.
