Researchers offer free lead tests to residents in Westside superfund zone

In this Aug. 23, 2016 photo, a sign from the Environmental Protection Agency is posted in front of West Calumet Housing Complex houses at East Chicago, Ind. The EPA is now proposing that some residential areas in Atlanta’s Westside be designated a Superfund site to prioritize removing high levels of lead from the soil.

Tae-Gyun Kim / AP Photo

Researchers from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Emory University are launching a new study this spring to test the blood of residents on Atlanta’s Westside for lead.

More than 2,000 residential properties in the Vine City and English Avenue neighborhoods are part of a superfund area designated for cleanup by the EPA.

Emory University associate professor of environmental sciences Eri Saikawa, who specializes in air quality, climate change and heavy metals soil contamination and began studying lead contamination in west Atlanta in 2018, and her research team are offering free lead poisoning tests to superfund-area residents.