Urban Soil Safety Policies: The Next Frontier for Mitigating Lead Exposures and Promoting Sustainable Food Production

Urban soils bear the persistent legacy of leaded gasoline and past industrial practices. Soil safety policies (SSPs) are an important public health tool with the potential to inform, identify, and mitigate potential health risks faced by urban growers, but little is known about how these policies may protect growers from exposures to lead and other soil contaminants. We reviewed and evaluated 43 urban agriculture (UA) policies in 40 US cities pertaining to soil safety. About half of these cities had a least one SSP that offered recommendations or provided services for soil testing. Eight cities had at least one SSP containing a requirement pertaining to any topic (e.g., soil testing, a specific best practice for growing). We found notable inconsistencies across SSPs for acceptable levels of lead in soils and the activities and behaviors recommended at each level. We specify research needed to inform revisions to US Environmental Protection Agency guidance for lead in soils specific to UA. We conclude with a series of recommendations to guide the development or revision of SSPs. Plain Language Summary Urban soils may contain lead and other chemicals harmful to human health. Soil safety policies established by city governments can provide guidance and restrict behaviors to protect urban growers from exposure to harmful chemicals while growing food in urban soils. We reviewed city government websites and used Google searches to find soil safety policies related to urban agriculture in the 40 most populous cities in the US. We analyzed the type, topic(s) and scope of each policy, looking for common characteristics across policies. The most common topic addressed by these policies was soil testing. We found disagreements across policies for the amount of lead acceptable in soils and the activities allowed at each level. We provide recommendations to cities to ensure these policies are easy to understand, helpful, and appropriate to protect urban growers who grow food in urban soils.

Automated summary

Urban soils may contain lead and other harmful chemicals. City government-established soil safety policies can guide and restrict behaviors to protect urban growers from exposure to these chemicals while growing food in urban soils. We reviewed 43 urban agriculture policies in 40 US cities and found inconsistencies in acceptable lead levels and recommended activities across policies. We provide recommendations for revising guidance on lead in soils specific to urban agriculture and for the development or revision of soil safety policies.