In December 2018, the Board of Supervisors directed County staff to study whether there was
any link between lead-based airplane emissions at Reid-Hillview Airport and blood lead levels of
children living near the airport.
The County engaged Dr. Sammy Zahran to study lead emissions at Reid-Hillview Airport. Dr.
Zahran is a Professor of Demography in the Dept. of Economics at Colorado State University and
a Professor in the Dept. of Epidemiology in the Colorado School of Public Health.
The Study analyzed blood lead levels of children within 1.5 miles of Reid-Hillview
Airport, piston-engine aircraft activity at the airport, and weather and prevailing winds for the
study period to establish whether there is a significant relationship between airplane emissions
and blood lead levels. Dr. Zahran and his team reviewed over 300,000 blood lead
records provided by the California Department of Public Health, flight records from the Federal
Aviation Administration, and weather data available from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
This Study will be reviewed by the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors at a virtual hearing on August 17, at 6 pm. We encourage you to attend the hearing by Zoom to provide your comments. Meeting information will be available at: http://sccgov.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx?frame=no