Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
I am working on lead soil levels for my project. What is the safe lead level for experimentation purposes? I looked up ISEF rules and am not sure I found the answer.
Can I use 500 ppm in the soil? Is this allowed per ISEF standards for a student to work on?

The ISEF form I found says you can't bring soil to a fair at all. I'm not sure about their regulation surrounding lead levels either, when talking about your own safety in your own home

Thank you! I was not planning on taking soil to the fair. I was looking to see what would be a safe level to work on at home, since I can not access any ab due to covid.

Hello sciencefairgeek,

Given the environmental circumstances of the world, this project idea is very crucial; so thank you for recognizing the significant issue.

When using lead, you should carefully consider all the health risks associated with it. Given the history of lead, as a potentially dangerous compound, I suggest you to try to do your experimentation at a school or a facility with a BSL 1 (biosafety level 1) lab at the minimum. Although, Science Buddies has a great inspirational 'template' for your idea through a kit-based experiment at: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... -soil#help, the procedure only gives you the presence of lead from collected samples (no lead added as an independent variable), not the amount of the compound. Therefore, the project can be safely done at home. Although, you are testing various lead levels, therefore, you will have much more contact and use of the toxic compound which should be safely done in a lab with proper safety equipments. See the material safety data sheet for lead at: https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?pa ... anguage=en. (This is a great resource for your bibliography and a requirement for ISEF rules).

I am not sure about the levels of lead you should use, although other Science Buddies Experts may be able to help you regarding that. However, for the mean time I suggest you interview professors at nearby institutions through emails or your high school chemistry teacher. Given COVID-19, please check with your teacher for a safe lab opportunity you can do your experiment at. Once again, I highly recommend you do your experiment at your school, with proper safety procedures.

I hope this helped. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Good luck!

Thank you very much!