Lead Source Apportionment and Climatic Impacts in Rural Environmental Justice Mining Communities

Dr. Ramirez-Andreotta’s Integrated Environmental Science & Health Risk Laboratory team just published “Lead source apportionment and climatic impacts in rural environmental justice mining communities.” The first author of this publication is Zain Alqattan, NIEHS Superfund Research Program Trainee and a PhD candidate.  

The goal of this community-engaged research project was to provide a holistic understanding of lead sources and exposures in rural mining communities after extreme climate events (e.g., wildfires and flooding). 

After a sequence of natural disasters in Gila County, Arizona, USA environmental justice (EJ), mining areas, community members raised concerns about metal(loid)s exposure and origin. The abundance of resource extraction and other anthropogenic activities, combined with the lack of infrastructure, make this area vulnerable to extreme climate events. This research addressed these challenges by cooperating with the local EJ communities and conducting a community-engaged multiple media research project into soil, sediments and dust.  

The study highlights mining as a major contributor for lead (Pb) concentration in both non-residential and residential (household) locations. In addition, metal(loid)s observed in non-residential locations were correlated to regional anthropogenic sources. In household locations, 50% of the soil samples were impacted by flooding alone and 25% of the soil samples were impacted by both wildfire and flooding. When comparing indoor and outdoor dust, Pb in outdoor dust was associated with anthropogenic (e.g., mining at 53.8%) and wildfire at 30.1%, while metal(loid)s in indoor dust was associated mainly with lithogenic origin and only two samples were sourced tracked to the AZ copper mine fingerprint (15.4%). 

This research draws attention to the challenges being faced in rural, mining, EJ communities in Arizona and beyond and provides a vision to improve resiliency against metal(loid)s exposure and compound event burdens.

PUBLICATION: Alqattan ZA, Trahan A, Chukwuonye GN, Jones M, Ramírez-Andreotta MD. Lead source apportionment and climatic impacts in rural environmental justice mining communities. Environ Res. 2025 Apr 15;271:121130. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121130. Epub 2025 Feb 14. PMID: 39956423; PMCID: PMC11895395.