title: Estimated lead (Pb) exposures for a population of urban community gardeners.
abstract: Urban community gardens provide affordable, locally grown, healthy foods and many other benefits. However, urban garden soils can contain lead (Pb) that may pose risks to human health. To help evaluate these risks, we measured Pb concentrations in soil, vegetables, and chicken eggs from New York City community gardens, and we asked gardeners about vegetable consumption and time spent in the garden. We then estimated Pb intakes deterministically and probabilistically for adult gardeners, children who spend time in the garden, and adult (non-gardener) household members. Most central tendency Pb intakes were below provisional total tolerable intake (PTTI) levels. High contact intakes generally exceeded PTTIs. Probabilistic estimates showed approximately 40 % of children and 10 % of gardeners exceeding PTTIs. Children's exposure came primarily from dust ingestion and exposure to higher Pb soil between beds. Gardeners' Pb intakes were comparable to children's (in µg/day) but were dominated by vegetable consumption. Adult household members ate less garden-grown produce than gardeners and had the lowest Pb intakes. Our results suggest that healthy gardening practices to reduce Pb exposure in urban community gardens should focus on encouraging cultivation of lower Pb vegetables (i.e., fruits) for adult gardeners and on covering higher Pb non-bed soils accessible to young children. However, the common practice of replacement of root-zone bed soil with clean soil (e.g., in raised beds) has many benefits and should also continue to be encouraged.
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Toxic Substance Assessment, Empire State Plaza - Corning Tower Room 1743, Albany, NY, 12237, USA. henry.spliethoff@health.ny.gov.
authors.forename: Henry M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2195-309X
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Spliethoff
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Toxic Substance Assessment, Empire State Plaza - Corning Tower Room 1743, Albany, NY, 12237, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Soil and Crop Sciences Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shayler
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Toxic Substance Assessment, Empire State Plaza - Corning Tower Room 1743, Albany, NY, 12237, USA.
authors.forename: Lydia G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Marquez-Bravo
authors.affiliation: Soil and Crop Sciences Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Russell-Anelli
authors.affiliation: Cornell University Cooperative Extension, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferenz
authors.affiliation: Soil and Crop Sciences Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Murray
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McBride
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004531:Eggs / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D051639:Gardening; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D009519:New York City; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D007854:Lead
keywords: Community garden; Lead (Pb) exposure; Urban agriculture; Urban soil