Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production
Abstract Urban soils bear the persistent legacy of leaded gasoline and past industrial practices. Soil safety policies (SSPs) are an important public health tool with the potential to inform, identify, and mitigate potential health risks faced by urban growers, but little is known about how these po...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2022-09-01
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| Series: | GeoHealth |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000615 |
| _version_ | 1811265401149980672 |
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| author | Sara N. Lupolt Raychel E. Santo Brent F. Kim Thomas A. Burke Keeve E. Nachman |
| author_facet | Sara N. Lupolt Raychel E. Santo Brent F. Kim Thomas A. Burke Keeve E. Nachman |
| author_sort | Sara N. Lupolt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Urban soils bear the persistent legacy of leaded gasoline and past industrial practices. Soil safety policies (SSPs) are an important public health tool with the potential to inform, identify, and mitigate potential health risks faced by urban growers, but little is known about how these policies may protect growers from exposures to lead and other soil contaminants. We reviewed and evaluated 43 urban agriculture (UA) policies in 40 US cities pertaining to soil safety. About half of these cities had a least one SSP that offered recommendations or provided services for soil testing. Eight cities had at least one SSP containing a requirement pertaining to any topic (e.g., soil testing, a specific best practice for growing). We found notable inconsistencies across SSPs for “acceptable” levels of lead in soils and the activities and behaviors recommended at each level. We specify research needed to inform revisions to US Environmental Protection Agency guidance for lead in soils specific to UA. We conclude with a series of recommendations to guide the development or revision of SSPs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:22:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb38ae832e954a3e83a1daf99022e58d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2471-1403 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:22:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | GeoHealth |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb38ae832e954a3e83a1daf99022e58d2022-12-22T03:17:58ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)GeoHealth2471-14032022-09-0169n/an/a10.1029/2022GH000615Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food ProductionSara N. Lupolt0Raychel E. Santo1Brent F. Kim2Thomas A. Burke3Keeve E. Nachman4Department of Environmental Health and Engineering Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USADepartment of Environmental Health and Engineering Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USADepartment of Environmental Health and Engineering Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USARisk Sciences and Public Policy Institute Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USADepartment of Environmental Health and Engineering Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USAAbstract Urban soils bear the persistent legacy of leaded gasoline and past industrial practices. Soil safety policies (SSPs) are an important public health tool with the potential to inform, identify, and mitigate potential health risks faced by urban growers, but little is known about how these policies may protect growers from exposures to lead and other soil contaminants. We reviewed and evaluated 43 urban agriculture (UA) policies in 40 US cities pertaining to soil safety. About half of these cities had a least one SSP that offered recommendations or provided services for soil testing. Eight cities had at least one SSP containing a requirement pertaining to any topic (e.g., soil testing, a specific best practice for growing). We found notable inconsistencies across SSPs for “acceptable” levels of lead in soils and the activities and behaviors recommended at each level. We specify research needed to inform revisions to US Environmental Protection Agency guidance for lead in soils specific to UA. We conclude with a series of recommendations to guide the development or revision of SSPs.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000615leadsoil safetyurban agriculturepolicyexposureenvironmental justice |
| spellingShingle | Sara N. Lupolt Raychel E. Santo Brent F. Kim Thomas A. Burke Keeve E. Nachman Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production GeoHealth lead soil safety urban agriculture policy exposure environmental justice |
| title | Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production |
| title_full | Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production |
| title_fullStr | Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production |
| title_short | Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production |
| title_sort | urban soil safety policies the next frontier for mitigating lead exposures and promoting sustainable food production |
| topic | lead soil safety urban agriculture policy exposure environmental justice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GH000615 |
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