Gardening and Lead

[MyTheta]

Here's an interesting article about lead found in soil ~ also mentions lead & toys (briefly)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/garden/14lead.html

[Former_Member]

Hello and good morning. Thank you for this information and link. I am a big gardener. I have not had any problems with my soil but you never know these days. Thank you again.
Dazzy

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the article, very interesting!

[MerrillLand]

Very interesting. I used to work as a hazardous waste site rememdiation engineer and we dealt with lead contamination all the time. Frankly, the findings are not surprising.

[Former_Member]

So sad.

[Former_Member]

Yep... my ped said when they lead tested my little boy that in kids lead poisoning is caused by soil way more often than by toys. That's why it's good to take shoes off at the door if there are little kids in the house.

[Former_Member]

great article thanks!

[Former_Member]

correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't lead natually exist in soil? I thought it was a matter of location, with certain areas tending to have more lead in it than others??

Just like iodine is found naturally, more abundant in some areas and lacking in others.

I live in high lead, low iodine state :○}

[Former_Member]

Soil is indeed the major source of lead in the US, along with water. Consumer goods lag far, far, far behind.

Lead can also be purged out of body with a diet rich in calcium, iron, and vitamin C. (which is good for you for other reason too!)

The EPA has a handy PDF on the subject, including high iron, high calcium, high vitamin C meals and snacks you can feed to the kids:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/nutrition.pdf

(side note, but many of the recipes are designed so they can be made with items available through WIC)

They have another PDF on how to clean your house to minimize lead dust from paint or tracked in as dirt:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadpdfe.pdf

They mention spinach in the article as being a good way to draw lead out of soil. IRONY: Marijuana is also an excellent way to draw lead and other heavy metals out of soil. It's been used at Chernobyl to take radioactive material out of the soil and water:
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_10.html

[Former_Member]

I hadn't realized the danger of soil in the house. I think I'm going to have an orange and a glass of milk and get started detoxing.

[PortugueseVintage]

Our world!!!!!!

[PortugueseVintage]

Our world!!!!!

[TheGemMage]

Thanks for the article. Luckily my garden is in container pots and out of my deck away from the house but I'll have to get my backyard soil tested anyway...

[rpfeikgraphics]

"He had his soil tested last month, and the analysis showed more than 90 times the amount of lead expected to occur naturally."
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Yes, lead occurs naturally, but obviously we have concentrated it in some places.
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They mention spinach in the article as being a good way to draw lead out of soil.
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Could that spinach be eaten, or would you have to throw it out for awhile 'til your soil gets cleared?

[Former_Member]

Don't eat the spinach -- leafy vegetables soak up lead (unless your soil has the right ph).

[Former_Member]

Wow! Great info! I'm going to send the link around to friends and fam.

[GoTo]

rpfeikgraphics says:
Could that spinach be eaten, or would you have to throw it out for awhile 'til your soil gets cleared?

~~~You'd have to throw it out. I wonder if it would then be hazardous waste...

[GoTo]

Interesting links fenrislorsrai, thanks--I learned a few things.

I didn't see where it said that calcium, iron, & vitamin C would get lead out of the body, only that it would prevent absorption (which is great if you can't change your environment & it causes lead exposure). Did I miss something?

[GriffithGardens]

We live down the road from an orchard that is being developed. The lead and arsenic levels are so high from the pesticides used in the past that the whole area has to be remediated before houses can be put in. It involves removing 6 to 12 inches of soil and replacing it with soil from another site. Very scary. When they remove the soil they are wearing yellow suits and gas masks and put this goo over the hills of soil in case the wind blows. Think about that the next time you buy fruit!! YIKES. That's why I grow my own or buy organic. :)

[Former_Member]

Lead, lead everywhere lead now they will make a law stating that you can no longer go to the playground or play outside! No toys, no yard sales, no gardens, no playgrounds, no librarys, This is so blown out control. How did we live all these centuries?

[Former_Member]

I love how the article says that spinach grown to take lead out of the soil needs to be treated as hazardous waste... My kids are already of that opinion of the leafy green anyway...

[thecoldyear]

Is anything safe in this world anymore... I mean, gardening too??

[Former_Member]

We'll have to wear bio-hazard suits just to leave the house.

[thecoldyear]

it really feels that way CraftJunkie

[Former_Member]

When do we begin batch testing our soil?