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Re: Book-Lasagna Gardening

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

I could not resist responding to this message.  I work at an 
environmental/engineering firm and we have done some lead remediation 
projects.  I did some research last spring on the risks involved in lead 
contaminated soils.  A summary of my research is as follows:

200-500 parts per million (mg/kg) is a common concentration of lead in 
soil in cities.  The way children usually get lead poisoning from 
contaminated soils is from having dirt under their fingernail or on 
their hands, then putting their hands in their mouths.  Lead cannot go 
through unbroken skin, so they cannot get poisoned by touching 
contaminated dirt.  Vegetables planted in lead contaminated gardens do 
not usually absorb much lead.  The best way to reduce risk of poisoning 
is to keep dirt with 200 ppm or more of lead covered with grass, other 
plants, gravel, wood chips, or pavement.  Another way to mitigate risk 
is to remove the top 3-6 inches.

Refer to: http://www.parentsplace.com/readroom/lead/soil.htm#SOILINDEX

Some web sites also mentions that children eating soil at landfills can 
also cause lead poisoning.  But I don't think that is a reasonable risk, 
since children are rarely allowed to play at landfills.

Most lead contamination in residential areas comes from chips of lead 
based paint or from leaded gas car fumes.  If you can help it, keep your 
garden away from busy roads and from the base of old buildings which may 
have used leaded paint.

Regardless if you have lead contamination in your yards or not, common 
sense will tell you to be sure and wash the dirt off your vegetables 
thoroughly, and have your children wash their hands frequently, and 
don't let your kids eat dirt.  




>From: CMBH71C@prodigy.com (MS SHELLEY V CORBIN)
>To: sqft@listbot.com
>Subject: Book-Lasagna Gardening
>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 14:36:38, -0500
>
>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>this past saturday i went to the Detroit meeting on how to test soil 
>for lead, cadium and arsenic.there were several lectures on how to 
>make a soil sample, the composition of lead and other heavy metals, 
>and how they affect the body and brain, and how to garden safely.  
>its really very sad. appearently the enviornment in especially big 
>cities are saturated with various sources of lead. all which can have 
>a devastating impact on young children. they recommend, testing your 
>soil, testing your childrens blood
>and garden safely. if soil is found to have heavy metals, add organic 
>material on top of the soil. which leads me to this lasagna gardening 
>technique, i heard about the book a few weeks ago, havent gotten it 
>yet, but i think this is might be a good idea if you have metals 
>(which NEVER goes away) in your soil. i will recommend it to the 
>folks who put on the lecture as well as to those folks that live in 
>such dangerous areas. if you live near a plant, or a highway, your 
>soil could be a sponge for all kinds of chemicals. remember to garden 
>safely!
>another piece of advice: in suspected areas, dont send children out 
>with empty stomachs, they will absorbed 80% of the lead poisoning, 
>full stomachs absorbed only 14% of the lead.
>
>
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