The CBR mission is to conduct and coordinate interdisciplinary research and learning to enhance global understanding of environmental issues, provide solutions through innovative applications and communication, and inform policy and practice.
Howard Walter Mielke, Ph.D. Research Professor Tulane /Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research
1430 Tulane Avenue SL-3, New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: 504-988-3889
Fax: 504-988-6928
Email: Howard.Mielke@gmail.com
Howard W. Mielke, native of St. Paul, Minnesota, is currently a Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Tulane University. He is married to Tina Covington-Mielke, a nurse and teacher at the Charity School of Nursing. He earned his BA at Macalester College in St. Paul in 1963 and then joined the Peace Corps for a teaching program in Malawi, Africa. He received his MS in biology and his Ph.D. in biogeography at the University of Michigan. He began urban geochemistry research in 1971 while teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles, and continued his urban studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Macalester College in Minnesota, and the Center for Regional and Urban Affairs at the University of Minnesota. His Baltimore study on accumulated environmental sources of lead and its association with childhood lead poisoning in inner city environments is now recognized as pioneering research. His research highlighted the need to remove lead from gasoline.
Before Katrina and flooding New Orleans he was a professor of environmental toxicology at the College of Pharmacy, Xavier University of Louisiana. Dr. Mielke joined the faculty at Xavier University in 1988 and became the Principal Investigator of a multimedia study of metals in urban and rural New Orleans for the Environmental Health and Toxicology Research Program with the Minority Health Professions Foundation/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In 2004 he became the Principle Investigator of a pilot project for a Housing and Urban Development Lead Technical Study to Xavier University entitled "Re-Cover New Orleans" whereby clean soils were brought into highly contaminated communities of New Orleans to reduce the potential for childhood exposure to lead and other toxins that had accumulated in the soil. After Katrina and the termination of the toxicology program at Xavier University he was invited to join the faculty of Tulane University as a Research Professor.
In New Orleans his particular focus is on health issues related to environmental disparities of the accumulation of metals. He has published numerous articles on the topic of soil metal accumulation in many cities. As part of his activities he is involved in policy discussions that changed the regulations for house painting in New Orleans. His publications have international impact because they form the scientific basis for proactive prevention of metal exposure. Specifically, his research influenced policy for the removal of lead from gasoline, supported revised lead laws in Michigan, Louisiana, Canada, Norway, the European Union, Mexico and Peru. Dr. Mielke is a full member of the Society of Toxicology and a member of the board of the Society of Environmental Geochemistry and Health. In addition to his research interests, Dr. Mielke is an avid traveler, camper, birder, hiker, and a sings tenor with the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans.
PEER REVIEWED AND PUBLISHED RESEARCH
2007 “Potential Lead on Play Surfaces: Evaluation of the “PLOPS” sampler as a new tool for primary lead prevention”, Howard W. Mielke, Eric T. Powell, Christopher R. Gonzales, Paul W. Mielke, Jr. Environmental Research 103 (2007), 154–159.
2006 “Hurricane Katrina’s Impact on New Orleans Soils Treated with Low Lead Mississippi River Alluvium” Howard W. Mielke, Eric T. Powell, Christopher R. Gonzales, Paul W. Mielke, Jr. Environmental Science and Technology 40 (24), 7623 -7628
2006 “New Orleans Soil Lead (Pb) Cleanup Using Mississippi River Alluvium: Need, Feasibility and Cost” Howard W. Mielke, Eric T. Powell, Christopher R. Gonzales, Paul W. Mielke, Jr., Rolf Tore Ottesen and Marianne Langedal. Environmental Science and Technology 40(08):2784-9.
2005 “Changes of Multiple Metal Accumulation (MMA) in New Orleans Soil: Preliminary Evaluation of Differences between Survey I (1992) and Survey II (2000).” Howard W. Mielke, Christopher Gonzales, Eric Powell, and Paul W. Mielke Jr., Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2(2), 84–90
2005 “Seasonality and Children’s Blood Lead Levels: Developing a Predictive Model using Climatic Variables and Blood Lead Data from Indianapolis, Indiana, Syracuse, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana (USA).” Mark A. S. Laidlaw, Howard W. Mielke, Gabriel M. Filippelli, David L. Johnson, Christopher R. Gonzales, Environmental Health Perspectives 113 (6): 793-800
2005 “Lead’s Toxic Urban Legacy and Children’s Health.” Geotimes 50 (5): 22-26. [Editorial staff invited and reviewed article.]
2005 “Multiple Metal Accumulation as a Factor in Learning Achievement within Various New Orleans Communities” Howard W. Mielke, Kenneth J. Berry, Paul W. Mielke, Eric T. Powell and Christopher R. Gonzales, Environmental Research, 97(1): 67-75
2004 “PAHs and Metals in Soils of Inner City and Suburban New Orleans, Louisiana USA.” Mielke, Howard W., Wang, Guangdi, Gonzales, Christopher R., Powell, Eric T., Le, Bin and Quach, V. Nancy. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 18(3):243-247 (Elsevier Science publications)
2004 "Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Trace Metals in New Orleans Soils and Sediments", Guangdi Wang, Howard Mielke, Van Quach, Chris Gonzales, and Qiang Zhang. Journal of Soil Contamination. Soil and Sediment Contamination 13:313-327
2003 "Metal contamination of sediments and soils of Bayou Saint John: A potential health impact to local fishermen?" Marc Welt, Howard W. Mielke, Chris Gonzales, Kora M. Cooper, Corey G. Batiste, Lawrence H. Cresswell III and Paul W. Mielke. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 25(4):387-396
2003 "The High Cost of Improper Removal of Lead-Based Paint from Housing: A Case Report." Jacobs D, Mielke HW, and Pavur N. Environmental Health Perspectives 111:185-186
2002 "Natural and Anthropogenic Processes that Concentrate Mn in Rural and Urban Environments of the Lower Mississippi River Delta." H W Mielke, C R Gonzales, E Powell, A Shah, Xavier University of Louisiana, P W Mielke, Colorado State University. Environmental Research, 90 (2): 157-168
2002 "Research Ethics in Pediatric Environmental Health: Lessons from Lead." HW Mielke, Ph.D. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 24(4): 467-469
2002 "The Fisher-Pitman Permutation Test: An Attractive Alternative to the F Test." K.J. Berry, P.W. Mielke and H.W. Mielke. Psychological Reports, 90: 495-502
2001 "PAH and Metal Mixtures in New Orleans Soils and Sediments." H. W. Mielke, G. Wang, C. R. Gonzales, B. Le, V. Quach, and P. W. Mielke. The Science of the Total Environment 281(1-3): 217-227
2001 "Multiple metal contamination from house paints: consequences of power sanding and paint scraping in New Orleans" H. W. Mielke, E Powell, A. Shah, C. Gonzales, and P. W. Mielke. Environmental Health Perspectives 109:973-978
2000 "Quantities and Associations of Lead, Zinc, Cadmium, Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Vanadium, and Copper in Fresh Mississippi Alluvium and New Orleans Alluvial Soils," H.W. Mielke, C.R. Gonzales, M.K. Smith, and P.W. Mielke. The Science of the Total Environment 246 (2-3): 249-259
1999 "The Urban Environment and Children’s Health: Soils as an Integrator of Lead, Zinc and Cadmium in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.," H.W. Mielke, M.K. Smith, C.R. Gonzales and P.W. Mielke. Environmental Research 80(2): 117-129
1999 "Lead in the inner-cities," H. Mielke, American Scientist 87:62-73
1999 "Soil Lead at Elementary Public Schools: Comparison between School Properties and Residential Neighbourhoods of New Orleans." Felicia J. Higgs, Howard W. Mielke, Michelle Brisco, Environmental Geochemistry and Health 21: 27-36
1998 “Soil is an Important Source of Childhood Lead Exposure,” Howard W. Mielke and Patrick L. Reagan, Environmental Health Perspectives (106) Supplement 1: 217-229
1997 “Associations between lead dust contaminated soil and childhood blood lead: a case study of Urban New Orleans and Rural Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, USA,” H.W. Mielke, D. Dugas, P.W. Mielke, K.S. Smith, S.L. Smith, C.R. Gonzales. Environmental Health Perspectives 105 (9): 950-954
1997 “Lead-Based Hair Coloring Products: Too Hazardous for Household Use,” H.W. Mielke, M. D. Taylor, C. R. Gonzales M. K. Smith, P.V. Daniels, A.V. Buckner. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association NS37(1):85-89
1996 “Influence of fertilizer and sewage sludge compost on yield and heavy metal accumulation by lettuce grown in urban soils,” S.B. Sterrett, R.L. Chaney, C.H. Gifford and H.W. Mielke. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 18 (4): 135-142
1996 “Environmental Health In Minority and Other Underserved Populations: Benign Methods for Identifying Lead Hazards at Day Care Centers of New Orleans,” L. Viverette and H. Mielke, M. Brisco, A. Dixon, J. Schaefer, and K. Pierre. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 18 (1): 41-45
1994 “Lead in New Orleans Soils: New Images of an Urban Environment,” H.W. Mielke. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 16(3/4): 123-128
1993 “Hazardous Wastes, Hazardous Materials and Environmental Health Inequity,” M.R.I. Soliman, C.T. Derosa, H. W. Mielke, and K. Bota. Toxicology and Industrial Health 9 (5): 901-912.
1993 “Lead Dust Contaminated USA Communities: Comparison of Louisiana and Minnesota,” H.W. Mielke. Applied Geochemistry 8, Suppl.2: 257-261
1983 “Lead Concentrations in Inner-City Soils as a Factor in the Child Lead Problem,” Mielke, H.W., J.C. Anderson, K.J. Berry, P.W. Mielke, Jr., R.L. Chaney and M. Leech, American Journal of Public Health 73 (12): 1366-1369
Howard Walter Mielke, Ph.D.