Lead Issues, including North Lake Macquarie

The city of Lake Macquarie is located ten minutes from Newcastle. Its centerpiece, the Lake, is one of the largest coastal saltwater lakes in Australia. Lake Macquarie is the fourth most populous city in NSW, and the eighth most populous city in Australia. North Lake Macquarie consists of three suburbs within the city of Lake Macquarie. The suburbs are Argenton, Boolaroo and Speers Point. Boolaroo was built in the 1890's as a housing estate for the workers of the local lead smelter which closed in September 2003.

In 1992, the Public Health Unit reported elevated blood lead levels in children living in North Lake Macquarie. 67% of North Lake Macquarie children aged 0 - 13 years had a blood lead level above the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) target of 10 micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood.

There was also wide spread soil contamination with 70% of samples having lead levels exceeding the level for further investigation of 300 parts per million (ppm). The use of slag as landfill has contributed to the spread of contaminated soil. The Environmental Health Centre was established in 1996 with the goal of reducing children's blood lead levels and implemented a range of strategies including health promotion, greening, abatement and a blood lead testing program.

The Environmental Health Centre conducted an annual blood lead monitoring program for children in the North Lake Macquarie area. Since the closure of the smelter in September 2003 the average blood lead levels in children have decreased as the lead-in-air levels decreased. These results suggest that while the smelter was in operation, the main source of lead for young children in the area was recent, rather than historical, smelter emissions.

However, even though the smelter has ceased production, the soil and dust in the local area will still contain some lead from the past operations of the smelter. In addition, old, deteriorating lead-based paint from household surfaces is an increasingly recognised cause of elevated blood lead levels in the area. Therefore, care should still be taken with personal and home hygiene for children and pregnant women to minimise lead exposure.

The closure of the smelter and the consequent improvement in the blood lead levels for local children resulted in the closure of the North Lake Macquarie Environmental Health Centre at the end of 2006.

The report of the final blood lead monitoring survey ( pdf) 59Kb from the Environmental Health Centre was completed in 2006. The results showed continued decreases in the average blood lead levels of children in the North Lake Macquarie area down to an average of 4.2 μg/dL (micrograms per decilitre); and only 4% of under 13 year olds, and 7% of under 5 year olds had blood lead levels in excess of the NHMRC goal level of 10 μg/dL.

It is important that all communities practice lead-safe behaviours. A DVD promoting lead-safe behaviours addressing both contaminated soils and lead paint removal was distributed in the North Lake Macquarie area in late 2006. Early Childhood Health Centres in the local area also have supplies of this DVD.

You can also download the final Environmental Health Centre Annual Report 2005-2006 ( pdf) 1.31Mb for later reference. With the closure of the Pasminco Cockle Creek smelter in October 2003 and the encouraging results from the last round of blood lead testing in June 2006, there was no longer a need for the EHC to have a continued presence in the community. Services previously provided by the EHC have been handed over to other appropriate service providers.