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'Team Dead Weight' presents winning concept to U.N. |
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| Posing in front of the United Nations are Team
Dead Weight members (from left) Jathan Kron,
Brennan Nelson and Justin Roth. |
Three eighth graders from West Branch Middle School who dubbed themselves "Team Dead
Weight" presented their award-winning environmental project to the United Nations
International Youth Conference in New York in August. The Hygienic Laboratory's Ankeny
staff provided testing for the project.
Team Dead Weight - Jathan Kron, Brennan Nelson and Justin Roth - studied the environmental
effects of lead wheel weights commonly used to balance automobile tires. Worn weights can
fall off of the wheels and often are left on roadsides where the lead can leach into the
soil.
In May, the team won first place in the Siemens Foundation's "We Can Change the World
Challenge." In August, they presented their study at the United Nations to an audience of
peers, media and UN representatives, many of whom are scientists.
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"Getting a chance to go to New York and present our project at the 2009 United Nations
International Youth Conference was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a great way to get
the word out about the environmental hazards associated with lead wheel weights," said
Jathan Kron of Team Dead Weight. "It was a great learning experience that will stick with me
for the rest of my life."
Approximately 70,000 tons of lead are used each year to manufacture weights commonly used to
balance tires, according to the Ecology Center. Lead is a toxin that is especially harmful
to young children. Exposure to lead can cause learning and behavioral problems, and possibly
damage the brain, kidneys and other organs.
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| UHL limnology supervisor John Miller conducts a tour of
the Ankeny Lab for Team Dead Weight. |
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EPA moves to ban sale of lead wheel weights
In a decision issued on Aug. 26, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
reversed its 2005 decision and accepted a petition from a dozen environmental
and public health organizations to immediately begin rulemaking to ban lead
wheel balancing weights.
Lead in wheel weights represents one of the largest, unregulated uses of lead in
consumer products. These wheel weights are used to balance vehicle tires so they
do not vibrate as they spin.
Lead weights falling off car tire rims is one of the largest, ongoing releases of
lead into the environment. According to Jeff Gearhart, research director for the
Ecology Center, "1.6 million pounds of lead from wheel weights fall off cars
each year (and land) where anyone can find and possibly ingest them. Banning
(them) will greatly protect kids from lead poisoning."
In a separate action on the same day, the EPA reached a settlement of a lawsuit
to amend rulemaking that deals with the largest source of lead poisoning: lead
in paint from renovation, repair and painting activities.
More information is available online at www.leadfreewheels.org.
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