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Urban Lead In Minnesota: Soil Transect Results Of Four Cities, Howard W. Mielke, Sara Burroughs, Randall Wade, Timothy Yarrow, Paul W. Mielke

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

The focus of this field study was the development of a soil collection and analysis method for the rapid assessment of urban lead (Pb) buildup in four Minnesota cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester. The results show that soil Pb buildup is mainly a function of urban size, although specific geographic factors, such as a bluff that constrains city development along a narrow corridor, also play a role in Pb distribution and concentration. Maximum urban Pb concentrations were approximately 25, 70, and 100 times rural soil Pb levels, in Rochester, Duluth, and the centers of Minneapolis and St. Paul …