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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Mary E. Finster1, Kimberly A. Gray, PhD1, and Helen Binns, MD, MPH2. (1) Department of Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3109, 847-467-4980, m-finster@northwestern.edu, (2) Children's Memorial Hospital, 2300 Children's Plaza, Box 208, Chicago, IL 60614
Objective: In order to evaluate the potential risk due to the consumption of plants homegrown in gardens with lead contaminated soil, a survey of lead levels in a typical array of edible vegetables, fruits, and herbs was conducted over a period of two summers in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago.
Method: The samples of garden plants harvested from the field washed to remove adhered soil, dried, and separated into sections including root, shoot, and edible fruit. These sections were then individually analyzed for lead content using ICP.
Results: In general, all plants grown in a contaminated soil will accumulate soil lead to some level; although, there exists wide variation with respect to what the actual concentration will be. Our findings confirm this. In most cases, lead absorption does not concentrate in the edible fruiting parts of vegetable and fruit plants (e.g., tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash). The majority of the lead that is absorbed from the soil is concentrated in the roots (root:soil ranging from 0.05 to 0.50), with some translocation into the shoots (shoot:soil as high as 0.06).
Conclusions: The translocation of lead can pose a risk when the shoots are the edible portion of the plant, as is the case for leafy vegetables and herbs. As a result, the consumption of lead laden leafy vegetables and herbs (e.g., lettuce, chard, mint, cilantro) may cause lead poisoning due to an exceedance of the daily natural excretion levels in adults and children.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Lead, Environment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.