Neighbors of an Eagan battery recycling plant had controversial bone scans to detect lead poisoning

Neighbors of an Eagan battery recycling plant learned they might be entitled to part of a lawsuit settlement against the facility, Gopher Resource.

But first, they had to get their bones scanned.

The law firm representing them, Farrell and Fuller, rented space in March and June in the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel, next to the NFL team’s training site in Eagan. Inside, an expert in lead exposure pointed something that looked like an oversized infrared thermometer at their shins. After a few minutes, the test was done. Weeks later, results arrived in an online portal.

Some people were told they had much more lead in their bones than was “normal,” according to copies of four people’s test results reviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The results seemed to confirm what neighbors to the plant suspected: that Gopher Resource had tainted their bodies with lead. At a public meeting in July, neighbors asked the state to do its own bone scans, to capture more data from people who were not part of the settlement.

But weeks later, the Minnesota Department of Health said it would not be scanning anyone — because the test method was unproven and exposed people to radiation. The agency said it is not aware of any other time similar scans have been used in Minnesota.

“We understand that some people have been led to believe that these bone lead tests provide key information, but the fact is, there are no established standards for ‘normal’ levels of lead in bones,” Amy Barrett, a spokeswoman for the department, wrote in an email.

The testing method, known as X-Ray Fluorescence, or XRF, has been used for years in research studies and is emerging as a preferred tool in lawsuits, including some filed after high levels of lead were found in Flint, Mich.’s, drinking water. Researchers who have used it say it’s a useful method to track long-term lead exposure.

Michael Fuller, the attorney representing the class of people entitled to compensation in Eagan, said the amount of radiation in the test is minimal. He said the measurements are one of several pieces of data that could be used to determine payouts — but he acknowledged the test offers no guidance if you do find out there’s lead in your bones.

“There’s nothing you can do about it other than monitor it, be mindful of it, and, you know, try to be as healthy as you can,” Fuller said.

Earlier this year, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency alleged Gopher broke national standards for lead air pollution in the first three months of 2025. But the lawsuit that led to the bone scanning is related to the company’s troubles several years earlier in Florida. The toxic conditions inside the Gopher Resource plant in Tampa were exposed by a Pulitzer-winning investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and triggered the lawsuit by workers and others affected by the pollution.

That lawsuit settled for $30 million, and covers Gopher’s facilities in both states. Between 1,400 and 1,500 people across the two states have filed the paperwork to claim part of the money, Fuller said.

Fuller declined to say how many people have been scanned in Minnesota, but said scans may be used in future suits against Gopher’s insurers.

Blood tests, the conventional method for measuring lead in the body, can only show recent exposures, because the levels can drop by half after 30 to 45 days, Hu said. Researchers use bone measurement to calculate increased risk for diseases related to lead exposure, like cardiac and neurological problems.

In the case of the Gopher Resource lawsuit, the settlement covers damages over a 24-year period. Employees of the two plants and anyone who lived, worked or attended school within a mile were eligible to make a settlement claim.

If those people don’t have blood lead measurements from throughout that period, the bone scan may be one of the few measurable ways to show lead exposure, Fuller said.

The scans were ruled as permissible evidence in a lawsuit against two contractors who were accused of wrongdoing after high levels of lead were found in Flint’s water. Fuller also said the measurements are being used, among other data, to divvy up a nearly $650 million settlement in a separate Flint case.

Originally, XRF scans were only available with stationary machines at a handful of universities. In the past 10 years, researchers have increasingly used a portable, handheld version of XRF.

Though the FDA has not assessed the safety of the handheld scanners to detect lead in bone, Fuller and scientists say they are not harmful.

“We’ve done all the calculations. ... The radiation levels are very, very low,” said Marc Weisskopf, a professor of environmental health and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who has extensively used XRF in research.

In results sent out by Fuller’s law firm, those who have been scanned receive a number showing the lead in the outer part of their shin bone. They are also told that “typical” levels would be near zero for children, 1.7 parts per million for middle-aged adults and 3 parts per million for those between 55 and 60.

Fuller said the baseline numbers were taken from medical literature. Aaron Specht, the Purdue researcher who has conducted the tests, did not respond to emails. In Flint cases where he also used the scans, he told a federal court in Michigan that baseline numbers were derived from his own published work and research conducted in Canada.

Dave Satre, a 32-year old who grew up in the Bur Oaks neighborhood across from Gopher, had a bone scan in March. The result was 8.58 parts per million, or five times the typical level for someone his age.

There’s little concrete advice for people who are concerned about their results. Hu said his research led to a recommendation for pregnant women with lead exposures to take a calcium supplement. The supplement can block lead from incorporating into the skeleton of a developing fetus, he said.

Weisskopf said future research will have to provide more answers on how to best deal with long-term lead exposures.

It is still a useful measurement for epidemiologists looking at a whole population, and he acknowledged that XRF might help show exposures in a lawsuit. But otherwise, “I would probably not just send someone a number,” he said.

Megan Aranguren, 42, was scanned in June and still hasn’t received her results. She hoped that researchers from Harvard and Purdue, where XRF has been used before, might take an interest in Bur Oaks and expand the testing there, since MDH has declined to do so.