Urban Gardeners Beware: There May Be Lead in Your Soil and Food

Map of lead in soil in Indianapolis shows lead levels that should be of concern to urban gardeners. Credit: Gabriel Filippelli, Ph.D., professor of earth sciences at the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Environmental awareness can ensure that a garden is a healthy place to work

Cindy Fox Aisen
ScienceDaily
Sept. 27, 2010

Excerpt:

As city dwellers across the country are harvesting fruits and vegetables for family consumption and planning ahead for the next planting season, geochemist Gabriel Filippelli, Ph.D., professor of earth sciences at the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, warns that urban soil may be contaminated with lead. He advises investigating the legacy of contamination in soil before planting and eating.

“Most surface contamination in urban settings like Baltimore, Brooklyn, Detroit or Indianapolis is from harmful metals, especially lead, and tends to be found near roadways, older homes or lead smelters. Sources of contamination can be automobile exhaust, degraded paint, tire and vehicle debris, industrial emissions or other products of human technology,” said Filippelli, who is an international leader in the emerging field of medical geology.

He encourages urban gardeners to study a map of their metropolitan area and determine potential soil contamination risk by proximity to busy streets, major roadways, freeways, dilapidated painted structures or older industrial facilities.

Read the complete article here.