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Speaking of Lead, Part 2: the Examination

Readers, thank you for your concern. Rest assured, I have not developed abdominal cramps, headaches, aggressive behavior, or any other symptoms of lead poisoning (although I suppose it might be too soon to tell). I've been eating lustily from my garden, both from the beds that are properly raised (a foot off the ground) and also those that are only slightly raised (four to six inches).

What's up with that? you might ask. I thought you were living on a bed of lead! Well, it's not quite as bad as I feared. It's true, there is a lot of lead in the soil next to my flaky old garage and house. The worst of the results I got back from the lab showed levels of 5600 parts per million—14 times the recommended limit for growing edible plants. The good news, though, is that as long as I take some precautions, this lead is not very likely to make it into my body (or yours, if you come over for dinner).

When I got the dreaded results back from the lab, the first thing I did was to dash off a rather anxious email to my friend and neighbor Grace Troccolo Rink, an environmental consultant and the former Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Natural Resources at the City of Chicago's Department of the Environment. Grace knew something about soil contamination from her days working with Greencorps, a city program that supports community gardens. Lead was a hot topic down there.

Speaking of Lead, Part 1: a Shocking Discovery

In my recent post on the dangers of nostalgia I referred to the prevalence of lead in our lifestyles of yore: we used the stuff in house paint, plumbing, metal polish, boot blacking, and even hair dye. It was good! It was useful! It was easy to work with! It gave off a lustrous sheen. Unfortunately, it was also very poisonous, especially for children. We know this now, and while we still struggle to eliminate it from toys made in China and other manufactured goods, we have done a good job of removing it from our gasoline, our house paint (nearly lead-free since 1978), and our new plumbing.

However, this is a legacy that we will probably never outlive—at least not in our old cities. Ever reliable, the stuff is sticking around. Much has been made of its persistence in the interiors of old homes, especially in window sills and other places where paint chips gather. Somewhat less attention has been paid to the fact that it is also in our soil. And because it is the same color as dirt, it is difficult to detect.

As an urban gardener, I have been vaguely aware of this for awhile. Word among those in the know is that if you live in an old city like Chicago, it's safe to assume that you have lead in your soil and therefore a good idea to plant any fruits or vegetables in raised beds. When first establishing my garden, I did plant my vegetables in raised beds. Between labor and materials it cost me a bit of money (about $1000, more than half of which went for the timbers, the hardware, and the new topsoil), but I figured since growing my own food was one of my primary reasons for buying a house, I might as well do it right.