title: Urban community gardeners' knowledge and perceptions of soil contaminant risks.
abstract: Although urban community gardening can offer health, social, environmental, and economic benefits, these benefits must be weighed against the potential health risks stemming from exposure to contaminants such as heavy metals and organic chemicals that may be present in urban soils. Individuals who garden at or eat food grown in contaminated urban garden sites may be at risk of exposure to such contaminants. Gardeners may be unaware of these risks and how to manage them. We used a mixed quantitative/qualitative research approach to characterize urban community gardeners' knowledge and perceptions of risks related to soil contaminant exposure. We conducted surveys with 70 gardeners from 15 community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland, and semi-structured interviews with 18 key informants knowledgeable about community gardening and soil contamination in Baltimore. We identified a range of factors, challenges, and needs related to Baltimore community gardeners' perceptions of risk related to soil contamination, including low levels of concern and inconsistent levels of knowledge about heavy metal and organic chemical contaminants, barriers to investigating a garden site's history and conducting soil tests, limited knowledge of best practices for reducing exposure, and a need for clear and concise information on how best to prevent and manage soil contamination. Key informants discussed various strategies for developing and disseminating educational materials to gardeners. For some challenges, such as barriers to conducting site history and soil tests, some informants recommended city-wide interventions that bypass the need for gardener knowledge altogether.
authors: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Brent F
authors: BF
authors: Kim
authors: CLF-Lerner Fellow, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Melissa N
authors: MN
authors: Poulsen
authors: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Jared D
authors: JD
authors: Margulies
authors: Community Greening Resource Network, Parks & People Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Katie L
authors: KL
authors: Dix
authors: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Anne M
authors: AM
authors: Palmer
authors: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America ; Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Keeve E
authors: KE
authors: Nachman
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D003710:Demography; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D051639:Gardening / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants