Concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Inorganic Constituents in Ambient Surface Soils, Chicago, Illinois: 2001–2002

Kay, Robert T.; Arnold, Terri L.; Cannon, William F.; Graham, David E.

doi:10.1080/15320380802006939

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…(Concentrations of other heavy metals were highly correlated with lead levels.) Those averages were much lower than the mean value of 2180 ppm reported by Shinn et al 20 for 62 residential properties in a four-block area of Chicago, comparable to the mean value of 395 ppm reported by Kay et al 21 for 57 samples from city-owned land and higher than the mean value of 224 ppm reported by Witzling et al 22 for inground community garden plots in the city. The risk that lead-contaminated soil poses to the health of gardeners and their families is uncertain, with a wide range of maximum safe levels proposed in the literature 22 .…”

Section: Hypothesiscontrasting

confidence: 47%

Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL

Taylor

Lovell

2014

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

107

108

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In the United States, interest in urban farms and community gardens is flourishing, yet the urban home food garden (UHFG) and its contributions to urban systems have been overlooked and understudied. To begin to address this gap, we are conducting a mixed methods study of African American, Chinese-origin and Mexican-origin households with home gardens in Chicago, IL. Study methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, ethnobotanical surveys and analysis of the chemical and physical properties of garden soils. As of this writing, findings indicate that home gardening has an array of beneficial effects, contributing to household food budgets and community food systems, the reproduction of cultural identity and urban biodiversity. The majority of informants in the study were internal or international migrants. For these individuals, gardening, culture-specific food plant assemblages and the foodways they support represent a continuation of cultural practices and traditional agroecological knowledge associated with their place of origin. The gardens of some migrant households also harbor urban agrobiodiversity with roots in the Global South. At the same time, gardens may have less salubrious effects on urban systems and populations. A lack of knowledge of safe gardening practices may expose vulnerable populations to environmental hazards such as soil contaminants. Gardeners in this study reported using synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, sometimes indiscriminately, and the repeated application of synthetic fertilizers and compost may contribute to the nutrient loading of urban stormwater runoff. These effects may be moderated by the relatively low bulk density and high porosity of garden soils due to tillage and the application of organic matter, which can be expected to enhance stormwater infiltration. While the UHFG's potential contributions to urban systems are significant, outreach and research are needed to help gardeners grow food safely and sustainably in ways that contribute to overall ecosystem health.

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Section: Hypothesiscontrasting

confidence: 47%

Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL

Taylor

Lovell

2014

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

107

108

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“…Soil concentrations of Pb in a natural soil are typically near 20 mg kg −1 , whereas a heavily contaminated urban soil may contain concentrations near 2000 mg kg −1 . A random sampling of 57 sites in Chicago, Illinois indicated that average Pb concentrations in soil are 395 mg kg −1 , 20 times greater than adjacent rural soils (Kay et al, 2008). …”

Section: Urban Soil Contamination and Remediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soil contamination may be one of the most serious risks to the healthy production of food in the urban environment. Of the many potential soil contaminants of concern to urban agriculturalists (e.g., lead [Pb], arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), Pb is the most consistently elevated pollutant within and among urban areas of the United States (Kay et al, 2008). Moreover, Pb may be strongly correlated with other urban contaminants because they often originate from common sources (Kay et al, 2008).…”

Section: Urban Soil Contamination and Remediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Challenges Threatening the Growth of Urban Agriculture in the United States

2013

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Urban agriculture, though often difficult to define, is an emerging sector of local food economies in the United States. Although urban and agricultural landscapes are often integrated in countries around the world, the establishment of mid- to large-scale food production in the U.S. urban ecosystem is a relatively new development. Many of the urban agricultural projects in the United States have emerged from social movements and nonprofit organizations focused on urban renewal, education, job training, community development, and sustainability initiatives. Although these social initiatives have traction, critical knowledge gaps exist regarding the science of food production in urban ecosystems. Developing a science-based approach to urban agriculture is essential to the economic and environmental sustainability of the movement. This paper reviews abiotic environmental factors influencing urban cropping systems, including soil contamination and remediation; atmospheric pollutants and altered climatic conditions; and water management, sources, and safety. This review paper seeks to characterize the limited state of the science on urban agricultural systems and identify future research questions most relevant to urban farmers, land-use planners, and environmental consultants.

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“…In comparison to rural soils, urban soils have greater amounts of PAHs due to the greater anthropogenic inputs, such as automobile emissions and to some extent waste disposal (Krauss and Wilcke, 2003;Wang et al, 2004;Banger et al, 2010). Several natural sources, such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions, also generate PAHs in the environment, although their contribution to PAHs in most urban soils is less than the anthropogenic sources (Kay et al, 2008;Simon and Sobieraj, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Trace Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in an Urbanized Area of Florida

Chahal

Brown

2010

Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal

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Contamination of soils by a variety of pollutants in urbanized and rapidly urbanizingregions is an ongoing problem in the world. Our objective in this study was to determine the contamination levels of trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban residential soils. Surface (0-15 cm) samples of soils were collected and analyzed from an urbanized region of Florida (Pinellas County: 725 km 2 , population: 921,482), for basic soil properties, trace metals, and PAHs. The pH of urban residential soils was between 5.4 and 8.0, the electrical conductivity ranged from 18 to 1170 µS cm −1 with an average value of 233 µS cm −1 , and total organic carbon of soils varied widely from 1 to 88 g kg −1 . Among the major elements determined in soils, contents of Mehlich 1 (M1) Ca were highest at 2330 mg kg −1 followed by M1-Mg (136 mg kg −1 ) and M1-Al (135 mg kg −1 ). Among the trace metals in soils, mean M1-Zn values were highest (18.6 mg kg −1 ) followed by M1-Fe (10 mg kg −1 ) and M1-Mn (8.6 mg kg −1 ). The contents of total PAHs (sum of the individual 14 PAHs) in urban residential soils varied from 83 to 2371 µg kg −1 , with a mean value of 731 µg kg −1 . Source analysis of PAHs in soils using molecular diagnostic indices suggested that PAHs in soils originated from both petrogenic and pyrolytic sources. Our results can be used to set baseline values of PAHs in urban residential soils of Florida and monitor changes in soil metals and PAHs values over a period of time due to anthropogenic inputs.

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Concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Inorganic Constituents in Ambient Surface Soils, Chicago, Illinois: 2001–2002

Cited by 23 publications

References 14 publications

Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL

Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL

Environmental Challenges Threatening the Growth of Urban Agriculture in the United States

Trace Metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in an Urbanized Area of Florida

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