Palawat Kunal, Ramírez-Andreotta Mónica D
Department of Environmental Science, College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Department of Environmental Science, College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2025 Jun 15;298:118314. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118314. Epub 2025 May 17.
Communities across the world are attempting to practice food sovereignty, yet metal(loid) contamination of gardens may restrict one's right to define their own relationship to the environment. To understand the human health risks associated with growing and eating plants in environmental justice communities, we aggregated environmental monitoring data at 231 sites from 10 participatory research projects. Using a Bayesian quantitative risk assessment, we simulated cancer and non-cancer health risks of ingesting garden soil and crops, and simulated a comparison to the U.S Food and Drug Administration's Total Diet Study (TDS) of conventionally-grown produce. Median hazard index (HI) - (sum of risks from 17 analytes and 20 exposure routes) - and increased excess lifetime cancer risks (IELCR) - (4 analytes, 20 exposure routes) - were 2.38 and 6.53 × 10 (6.53 out of 10,000) respectively. Key findings were that arsenic, manganese, copper, and barium contributed most to HI, at 29 %, 19 %, 11 %, and 9 % contribution respectively, while arsenic contributed most to IELCR at 95 % contribution. Collard greens, kale, turnip, radish, berries, string beans, cucumber, and squash had the highest risks. Community risks were slightly higher than TDS risks, except for nickel IELCRs. Consuming either home-grown produce or TDS produce poses substantial health risks. However, home-grown produce also contained higher levels of nutrients than TDS produce. Potential health benefits from gardening and eating home-grown produce, as well as an anti-colonial exposure assessment should be studied further. Individual action is not enough to protect human health; root causes of contamination such as industrialization and colonization must be addressed.
世界各地的社区都在尝试践行粮食主权，但花园中的金属（类金属）污染可能会限制人们定义自身与环境关系的权利。为了解环境正义社区中种植和食用植物所带来的人类健康风险，我们汇总了来自10个参与式研究项目的231个地点的环境监测数据。通过贝叶斯定量风险评估，我们模拟了摄入花园土壤和作物所带来的癌症和非癌症健康风险，并与美国食品药品监督管理局对传统种植农产品的总膳食研究（TDS）进行了模拟比较。中位危害指数（HI）（17种分析物和20种暴露途径的风险总和）以及增加的终生超额癌症风险（IELCR）（4种分析物，20种暴露途径）分别为2.38和6.53×10（万分之6.53）。主要发现是，砷、锰、铜和钡对HI的贡献最大，分别为29%、19%、11%和9%，而砷对IELCR的贡献最大，为95%。羽衣甘蓝、甘蓝、芜菁、萝卜、浆果、四季豆、黄瓜和南瓜的风险最高。除镍的IELCR外，社区风险略高于TDS风险。食用自家种植的农产品或TDS农产品都会带来重大健康风险。然而，自家种植的农产品所含营养成分也高于TDS农产品。园艺和食用自家种植农产品的潜在健康益处以及反殖民暴露评估应进一步研究。仅靠个人行动不足以保护人类健康；必须解决工业化和殖民化等污染根源问题。
