Examining Atmospheric and Soil Contamination in Urban Community Gardens

该项目考察了大气沉降和/或土壤中微量元素（如砷、铅等）污染城市社区花园（UCGs）土壤和蔬菜的空间变异性和程度。由于潜在的公共卫生后果，这是令人关切的。迄今为止，ucg的空气污染和土壤污染问题尚未得到充分研究，但ucg的扩散，并被称赞为解决食物获取和城市可持续性问题的一种手段。这项研究促进了对人与环境相互作用和城市政治生态学理论的理解，因为城市空气污染、土壤和园艺之间的关系需要进行批判性评估，才能产生通常与之相关的积极结果。如果空气或土壤微量元素来源在UCG污染中是重要的，那么在学术、政策和促进城市花园方面就会产生潜在的影响。除了产生关于自然保护区大气和土壤污染程度以及污染途径的具有公共卫生影响的新知识外，该项目还包括为园丁，特别是来自代表性不足群体的参与者提供教育和培训机会。该研究还拓宽了城市花园污染研究的学术多样性，并在建设性地提高认识、传播有效的预防策略和提供通常超出园丁范围的数据方面获得了社会效益。该项目的目的是评估在城市社区花园中，与其他邻近污染源、土壤中的微量元素（砷、镉、汞、镍和铅）和园艺投入相比，大量大气沉降的重要性。该项目系统地评估了大气沉降对城市社区花园中微量元素污染的影响。调查在纽约市的一个ucg样本中进行，在那里，pi将对每个ucg的地点进行档案研究，以开发土地利用历史。同时，他们将进行土壤调查，以评估微量元素的空间变异性，并确定具有代表性的土壤和作物采样点。园艺投入、蔬菜和土壤将被取样并分析微量元素浓度。土壤将在多个深度取样，并分析影响微量元素迁移的变量。取样的部分蔬菜将在行盖下种植，以辨别除大气沉降以外的变量。将建立飞盘式漏斗瓶散装收集器，并在一年内每月取样，收集大气流入数据，并将其与城市空气质量信息进行比较。研究结果预计将被转移到其他有制造业历史和几十年来依赖化石燃料交通的大城市的ucg中。通过该项目开发的技术也普遍适用于农村地区和小城市。因此，尽管本研究项目将侧重于城市社区花园中的大气沉积，但该研究将为处理美国和许多其他国家城市地区的食品生产和污染问题提供新的见解和方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines the spatial variability of and degree to which atmospheric deposition and/or trace elements in the soil such as arsenic, lead, and others, contaminate soils and vegetables grown in urban community gardens (UCGs). This is of concern because of the potential public health consequences. To date issues of air pollution and soil contamination in UCGs have been understudied, yet UCGs proliferate, and have been lauded as a means of addressing questions of food access and urban sustainability. This investigation advances the understanding of human-environmental interactions and urban political ecology theory as the relationship between air pollution, soils, and gardening in cities needs to be critically evaluated for it to have the positive outcomes generally associated with it. If airborne or soil trace element sources are significant in UCG contamination, then there are potential repercussions in scholarship, policy, and the promotion of urban gardens. As well as generating new knowledge with public health ramifications about the degree to which there is atmospheric and soil contamination in UCGs, and the contamination pathways, the project includes educational and training opportunities for gardeners, especially participants from under-represented groups. The research also broadens scholarly diversity in urban garden contamination research, and derives societal benefits in raising awareness constructively, spreading effective preventive strategies, and providing data typically beyond gardeners' reach. The project's aim is to evaluate the importance of bulk atmospheric deposition compared to other proximate contaminant sources, trace elements in the soil (arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel, and lead) and gardening inputs, in urban community gardens. The project systematically assesses the role of atmospheric deposition in relation to trace element contamination in urban community gardens. The investigation takes place in a sample of UCGs in New York City, where the PIs will conduct archival research about the site of each of the UCGs to develop a land-use history. In tandem they will conduct soil surveys to assess the spatial variability of trace element and determine representative soil and crop sampling points. Gardening inputs, vegetables, and soils will be sampled and analyzed for trace element concentrations. Soils will be sampled at multiple depths and analyzed for variables affecting trace element mobility. Part of the vegetables sampled will be grown under row cover to discern variables other than atmospheric deposition. Frisbee-type funnel-bottle bulk collectors will be set up and sampled monthly for a year to gather atmospheric influx data which will be compared to city air quality information. Findings are expected to be transferable to UCGs in other large cities with manufacturing histories and with decades of reliance on fossil-fuel based transport. The techniques developed through this project are also generally applicable to rural areas and small cities. Therefore, although this research project will focus on atmospheric deposition in urban community gardens, the research will provide new insights and approaches for dealing with food production and contamination problems in urban areas in the United States and many other countries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.