Multi-media Health Risk Assessment for Southeast Chicago Residents Using Environmental Monitoring Data

In 2017-2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collected and analyzed air and soil samples for heavy metal content in the East Side neighborhood of Chicago. The data was made publicly available, and air monitoring continued until 2023. The collection was in response to residents’ concern of elevated manganese and lead in soil due to emissions from a nearby bulk materials storage and processing facility. As a health risk assessment had not been performed with this data, a human health risk assessment for heavy metal exposure to residents near this facility was completed. The assessment was performed following EPA methods, consisting of four steps: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The EPA’s Pro-UCL software was used to calculate exposure point concentrations derived from the dataset. Findings indicated elevated non-cancer risk for residents of all ages primarily from inhalation of manganese and elevated cancer risk for children aged 2-6 years due to incidental ingestion of arsenic from soil. The elevated estimated risk levels demonstrate the need for further study to determine if interventions such as environmental restoration and air quality management are needed to reduce risk in this community.