Paris Unfit for Human Habitation

460 tons of lead tiles of the Notre Dame Cathedral vaporized last month and Parisians are breathing it in the poisoned air. This is a long term quite untreatable problem. The metal fallout formed a dust that has settled on the city and contaminated the soil and is stuck in air conditioning ducts. Measured lead concentrations  in areas close to the cathedral were between 10 and 20 grams per kilogram.

10 to 20 grams lead per kilogram equals 20,000 milligram/kg that is 20,000 ppm. About 10 to 50 ppm (parts per million) lead occurs naturally in soils, and more in urban areas. Universally, soil lead levels are associated with elevated blood levels in humans. Studies show high blood Pb levels are linked to  environmental conditions;  dry weather results in more suspended soil dust, which is breathed in by the population.

The Environmental Protection Agency allows concentrations of 400 ppm Pb in soils where children play and 1200 ppm in other areas of bare soil. The EPA doesn't have specific standards for a safe level of soil lead, but various organizations and researchers have attempted to come up with a number - somewhere between 300 and 600 ppm.  No doubt, the soil around the Cathedral is toxic and the place should be closed to tourists, or maybe, tourists allowed for short visits while protected by face-masks with anti-dust filter. Maybe Parisians should start to wear industrial dust-masks in the street, like the inhabitants of Beijing.  Left: Graph showing the concentration of lead particles in the air and the weather, in Detroit. Dry weather allows dust to contaminate the air and children's blood. All the soil in Paris and its buildings are contaminated and until decontaminated, unfit for human habitation.

One more reason for young Jews with children to move to Ashdod on the Mediterranean.