Extensive soil testing across Paris has uncovered that nearly a tonne of lead was dispersed across the area surrounding Notre Dame Cathedral after it was gutted by fire in April of 2019.
Investigations have revealed that the fire began in the cathedral’s roof and the famous spire, which was covered in lead, which burned and led to spectacular photos of the resulting yellow smoke.
The cathedral is currently undergoing extensive restoration work.
A newly released study has given researchers greater insight into the exposure the fire posed to nearby residents. Using soil samples from various neighbourhoods around the cathedral, researches have worked to establish an estimate of the amount of lead fallout caused by the fire.
The results of the study show that within one kilometre of the fire, almost one tonne of lead fallout was recorded, and neighbourhoods that were downwind on the day of the fire and the days afterwards recorded double the level of lead fallout than the health standard allows.
The study concluded that on the day of the fire, and potentially several days afterwards, people who lived within a kilometre of the cathedral were probably exposed to lead at twice the safe exposure level as indicated by French safety authorities.
The samples collected within that same radius indicated that the levels, on average, were 200 mg/kg, while the areas northwest of the fire and smoke averaged 430 mg/kg, significantly higher than the French standard, which is 300 mg/kg.
The fire and resulting smoke also affected the air quality, with lead particulates found in air quality tests as far as 50 kilometres away from the cathedral, and those tests indicating the presence of lead at 20 times the usual air quality levels.
While people can be exposed to lead via soil absorption or swallowing the toxin, the body absorbs higher levels of lead when it is breathed in. Lead stays in the body, stored in bones, blood and connective tissue and as the body ages, becomes a source of continual, internal exposure.
Long term exposure to lead can cause neurological symptoms, heart disease, and the EPA and CDC have confirmed it is a likely carcinogen.