Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Study about lead in gardens (II)

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Marimike6@cs.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Study about lead in gardens (II)
  • Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 12:02:28 EST

In a message dated 12/11/2003 8:58:12 AM Eastern Standard Time, dtv@mwt.net writes:
Invariably, roots showed the highest lead concentrations, followed by
successively lower accumulations in stems, leaves, and the typically
edible portions. Root concentrations varied widely, even within a given
species. For instance, her team reports that one sample of soil with a
lead concentration of 1,600 parts per million (ppm) produced no
measurable lead anywhere in a grape plant. In another case, the roots
of grapes grown in soil with 944 ppm lead showed lead contamination of
480 micrograms per gram (?g/g)-though there was no measurable
accumulation higher in the plant.


Great variability in the uptake is not surprising. Typically lead will occur in paint chips. If one plant's root system is touching a flake, it can take up a lot of lead into that side of the plant. The leaves on the other side, much less the leaves on the next plant over, may show no lead content at all.

If you have a garden plot you're suspicious of, assume that lead is present anywhere the foundations of an old house can be seen. Most all of them got painted five or ten times before they were torn down. For a moderate expense you can gather samples and give them to a hazard assessment company to analyze. But either learn how to gather a good sample, or leave this step to the risk assessor.

I live in termite country, and old houses and barns collapse in a few years if they're not torn down first. All you have left is a pile of house-shaped brown dirt with tiny little flecks of white in it. These are what's left of the lead paint. Usually tobacco or cotton gets grown in such fields.

Mike Elvin



  • Re: [permaculture] Study about lead in gardens (II), Marimike6, 12/11/2003

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page