Lupolt Sara N, Santo Raychel E, Kim Brent F, Burke Thomas A, Nachman Keeve E
Department of Environmental Health and Engineering Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USA.
Center for a Livable Future Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD USA.
Geohealth. 2022 Sep 1;6(9):e2022GH000615. doi: 10.1029/2022GH000615. eCollection 2022 Sep.
Urban soils bear the persistent legacy of leaded gasoline and past industrial practices. Soil safety policies (SSPs) are an important public health tool with the potential to inform, identify, and mitigate potential health risks faced by urban growers, but little is known about how these policies may protect growers from exposures to lead and other soil contaminants. We reviewed and evaluated 43 urban agriculture (UA) policies in 40 US cities pertaining to soil safety. About half of these cities had a least one SSP that offered recommendations or provided services for soil testing. Eight cities had at least one SSP containing a requirement pertaining to any topic (e.g., soil testing, a specific best practice for growing). We found notable inconsistencies across SSPs for "acceptable" levels of lead in soils and the activities and behaviors recommended at each level. We specify research needed to inform revisions to US Environmental Protection Agency guidance for lead in soils specific to UA. We conclude with a series of recommendations to guide the development or revision of SSPs.
城市土壤承载着含铅汽油和过去工业活动留下的持久影响。土壤安全政策（SSPs）是一项重要的公共卫生工具，有可能为城市种植者提供信息、识别并减轻他们面临的潜在健康风险，但对于这些政策如何保护种植者免受铅和其他土壤污染物的暴露，人们知之甚少。我们审查并评估了美国40个城市中43项与土壤安全相关的都市农业（UA）政策。这些城市中约有一半至少有一项土壤安全政策，该政策提供了土壤检测的建议或服务。八个城市至少有一项土壤安全政策包含与任何主题相关的要求（例如，土壤检测、特定的最佳种植实践）。我们发现，不同土壤安全政策对于土壤中铅的“可接受”水平以及在每个水平上推荐的活动和行为存在显著差异。我们明确了为修订美国环境保护局针对都市农业土壤中铅的指导意见所需开展的研究。我们最后提出了一系列建议，以指导土壤安全政策的制定或修订。
