Timely tips for urban gardeners concerned about lead safety
An urban gardener needs to consider the source of the water used to water the garden.
By Cookson Beecher
Food Safety News
April 10, 2023
Excerpt:
For example, sites, where there were commercial or industrial buildings, are often contaminated with lead-based paint chips, asbestos, petroleum products, dust, and debris.
Then too, vehicle exhausts can be a problem. As the result of past use of leaded gasoline, lead can also be found in the soil near major roadways or intersections.
And old houses, as charming as they may be, often have lead concentrated near their foundations. And when they’re torn down or renovated, lead dust can contaminate the soil. Another thing to consider is that if the house is 50 years or older and if it’s painted, lead paint may have chipped off the house and landed in the soil directly next to it.
Even an apple tree can be suspect simply because it could have been sprayed with an arsenic-based pesticide, year after year.
Then, too, soil in former parks and along railroad rights-of-way can harbor pesticide residues.
All of this means that urban gardeners concerned about food safety will want to have the soil tested before planting any seeds in the ground.
