TY - JOUR
T1 - VegeSafe
T2 - a community science program measuring soil-metal contamination, evaluating risk and providing advice for safe gardening
AU - Rouillon, Marek
AU - Harvey, Paul J.
AU - Kristensen, Louise J.
AU - George, Steven G.
AU - Taylor, Mark P.
PY - 2017/3
Y1 - 2017/3
N2 - The extent of metal contamination in Sydney residential garden soils was evaluated using data collected during a three-year Macquarie University community science program called VegeSafe. Despite knowledge of industrial and urban contamination amongst scientists, the general public remains under-informed about the potential risks of exposure from legacy contaminants in their home garden environment. The community was offered free soil metal screening, allowing access to soil samples for research purposes. Participants followed specific soil sampling instructions and posted samples to the University for analysis with a field portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer. Over the three-year study period, >5200 soil samples, primarily from vegetable gardens, were collected from >1200 Australian homes. As anticipated, the primary soil metal of concern was lead; mean concentrations were 413 mg/kg (front yard), 707 mg/kg (drip line), 226 mg/kg (back yard) and 301 mg/kg (vegetable garden). The Australian soil lead guideline of 300 mg/kg for residential gardens was exceeded at 40% of Sydney homes, while concentrations >1000 mg/kg were identified at 15% of homes. The incidence of highest soil lead contamination was greatest in the inner city area with concentrations declining towards background values of 20–30 mg/kg at 30–40 km distance from the city. Community engagement with VegeSafe participants has resulted in useful outcomes: dissemination of knowledge related to contamination legacies and health risks; owners building raised beds containing uncontaminated soil and in numerous cases, owners replacing all of their contaminated soil.
AB - The extent of metal contamination in Sydney residential garden soils was evaluated using data collected during a three-year Macquarie University community science program called VegeSafe. Despite knowledge of industrial and urban contamination amongst scientists, the general public remains under-informed about the potential risks of exposure from legacy contaminants in their home garden environment. The community was offered free soil metal screening, allowing access to soil samples for research purposes. Participants followed specific soil sampling instructions and posted samples to the University for analysis with a field portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer. Over the three-year study period, >5200 soil samples, primarily from vegetable gardens, were collected from >1200 Australian homes. As anticipated, the primary soil metal of concern was lead; mean concentrations were 413 mg/kg (front yard), 707 mg/kg (drip line), 226 mg/kg (back yard) and 301 mg/kg (vegetable garden). The Australian soil lead guideline of 300 mg/kg for residential gardens was exceeded at 40% of Sydney homes, while concentrations >1000 mg/kg were identified at 15% of homes. The incidence of highest soil lead contamination was greatest in the inner city area with concentrations declining towards background values of 20–30 mg/kg at 30–40 km distance from the city. Community engagement with VegeSafe participants has resulted in useful outcomes: dissemination of knowledge related to contamination legacies and health risks; owners building raised beds containing uncontaminated soil and in numerous cases, owners replacing all of their contaminated soil.
KW - lead
KW - soil contamination
KW - Sydney
KW - urban gardens
KW - x-ray fluorescence spectrometry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85008195285&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT120100440
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.11.024
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.11.024
M3 - Article
C2 - 28027776
AN - SCOPUS:85008195285
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 222
SP - 557
EP - 566
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
ER -