Soil contamination in community gardens of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Trace Metal Contamination in Community Garden Soils across the United States

“…Cities such as Baltimore have seen lead contamination in soil even two decades after a ban on lead-based fuel and lead paints [15]. Soil samples taken from community gardens in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with legacies of industrialization, had higher concentrations of lead than samples taken from suburban locations [21]. There was lead contamination in the soils of Philadelphia due to nearly 150 years of the operation of industrial facilities producing paint and other lead-bearing products [29].…”

“…Trace metals and metalloids such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc are commonly found in contaminated garden soils and have lasting health effects. Gardens along roof drip lines, roadsides, or near areas where lead-based paint chips, smelters, mines, current and past industries, brownfields, or superfund sites are present can lead to increased trace metal contamination in urban areas [21,30,31]. Agencies in the United States have a history of overlooking communities of color in contaminated environments [10].…”

“…There may still be contamination in raised beds from wind-transported particles from nearby sources and the wood that the bed is made from [25]. In a study focusing on Philadelphia community gardens, raised beds were effective in lowering the concentrations of lead and arsenic but not zinc, copper, vanadium, and nickel [21]. The wood used on railways was historically treated with copper chromate arsenate, which can diffuse arsenic, copper, and chromium into the soil if in contact.…”

“…In this paper, we selected and reviewed published manuscripts in the United States concerning trace metal and metalloid contamination (Pb, As, Cd, and Zn) in urban community gardens. Studies on trace metal contamination in community gardens have mainly focused on quantifying lead contamination, mapping contamination in the region, assessing the relationship with land uses and local contaminant sources, analyzing variations in geographical regions, comparing concentrations to the available public health guidelines, measuring the speciation and mobility of metals and metalloids, and examining the influence of garden characteristics such as raised beds [1,11,[13][14][15]17,[20][21][22][23][24][25]. This paper presents the plant uptake of trace metals, various exposure pathways to trace metals in community gardens, environmental justice issues, the effect of soil pH and plant nutrients on trace metals, and various soil remediation applications.…”