Soil testing for lead by high-school students in several Peruvian towns.

The USAID PEER-funded project "Lead-free kids - Peru" seeks to identify soil with high levels of lead (Pb), increase awareness of the risks of exposure to lead, motivate an interest in science, and develop a national plan to prevent exposure to lead. High schools in four communities in Ate (Lima), Callao, Cerro de Pasco and La Oroya (Junín) were selected for participation based on the likelihood of some soil contamination with lead. Following a pilot conducted in Lima, the project was launched in September 2018 after obtaining all necessary assent and consent forms and training teachers and students.

In Ate (Lima) near a battery recycling center, 3 STE (Science, technology, environment) teachers and 92 high school students from 4 classrooms of José Abelardo Quiñones Educational Institution collected 276 samples that were analyzed with a field-kit for bioaccessible Pb and by X-ray fluorescence for total Pb. Of these, 74% contained <140 ppm and 26% 140-800 ppm total Pb. Only one sample contained >800 ppm Pb. In Callao, near a major lead ore shipping terminal, 1 STE teacher and 16 high school students from at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Educational Institution collected 66 soil samples, of which 8% contained < 140 ppm, 82% contained 140-800 ppm, and 10 % contained > 800 ppm Pb. Finally in Pasco, 1 STE teacher and 28 high school students from 2 classrooms from Horacio Zevallos Educational Institution collected 73 soil samples, of which none contained <140 ppm, 10% 140 -800 ppm, and a stunning 90% >800 ppm. The field kit results obtained by the students generally highlighted the same hot spots as the XRF measurements.

Risk maps based on the very different outcome for these 3 communities were presented to the community and school authorities through infographics, sketch, radio script, debates on the subject with the active participation of the students in an effort to help them become agents of change in their community. Additional results from the same communities as well as La Oroya, the site of an infamous smelter, will also be presented.