It’s that time of year again; trees are leafing, flowers are blooming, and yes even the dandelions are popping around the yard.

Many of us are also re-cultivating, fertilizing (organically-based of course) and preparing to plant another season’s crop of home-grown wholesome vegetable bounty from our backyard gardens.

So why even consider the idea that lead poisoning could weigh-down summer urban gardening plans?

If you have a large lot, live in a relatively new development or in a structure that has never used exterior paint you may not even have to think about the significance of this article’s title.

One the other hand, if you live in an older structure, particularly in an urban or suburban setting, you really should be doing more than thinking about the title.

The reason: until the 1978 Lead Paint Ban many homes were painted using lead-based paints. As structures aged and maintenance painting occurs, some or all of the original paint was removed via scraping and the paint chips fell to the ground below and became part of the soil.

Another lead source present until the mid-1970s was the presence of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline when it was phased out of product and replaced with other additives such as methyl tertiary butyl ether (a.k.a. – MTBE: a subject for a future post).  As particulate matter was deposited from automobile exhaust, it also contained a certain amount of lead from gasoline adding to the lead burden of shallow soils (also the places where gardens are grown).

Lead in the Urban Garden Soil Environment …

First of all, if you feel your property may have significant issues with lead in soil, you should consider contacting your local/state health or environmental department for more information and testing advice.  This article is posted for those interested in gardening and is searching for steps to take to minimize interaction between garden plants and lead contaminated soils.

Lead is present in all soils in relatively low concentrations (often < 20 mg/kg or ppm), which represents a minimal risk to plants or animals (including us) that come into contact with it.

The problem arise when lead soil levels become substantially increased, a common occurrence in urban and some suburban setting due to the reasons stated above.  In numerous urban/suburban cases, lead concentrations in residential soils greatly exceed the common “lead safe” soil standard (established by U.S. regulatory agencies) of 400 mg/kg (ppm) with some studies reporting soil lead levels 10X greater than the safe level.

Note: Even though the “safe-lead” standard is set at 400 mg/kg (ppm), cultivation of soils with soil lead levels > 100 mg/kg (ppm) should be avoided when children at present to lower the risk of direct ingestion of contaminated soils.

Do vegetation types uptake and accumulate lead in the same way?

According to studies on the uptake of lead by different types of garden plants, leafy (lettuce, herbs, rhubarb, etc.) and rooting (carrots, radishes, onions, etc.) edible plants are more likely to accumulate lead in the edible parts than fruiting edibles (tomatoes, peppers, squashes, etc.).

A few recommendations for urban gardeners:

1. Survey the property and plan to construct the garden away from high contamination areas and buildings;
2. Conduct analysis of soil samples from planned garden area;
3. If planned garden area contains > 400 mg/kg (ppm), either move location, switch to container or raised bed gardening;
4. If lead contamination is present, only grow leafy and rooting plants in container or raised bed systems;
5. Wash all harvested plants thoroughly to remove contaminated dust/soil;
6. Each season, re-check topsoil system to check for re-contamination during pre-season preparation activities;
7. Do not use plants grown on contaminated soils in composting efforts.

A little pre-planning and preparation before undertaking this season’s gardening endeavor will help lower the risk of lead exposure to your family and still provide fresh, great-tasting and wholesome fruits and vegetables we all relish!

The added bonus – you will minimize the potential for lead poisoning to weigh down your urban garden plans!

Do you have any idea what chemicals are lurking in the cabinets under your kitchen and bathroom sinks?

Ever wonder what the source of the pungent odor emanating from your workshop bench or shelves was and whether they were safe household products?

Are all these materials made from perfectly safe chemicals or are there reasons to be concerned?

Is it possible the sweet odor coming from chemicals in household products is actually a possible health threat to you or your family?

Many of us often have questions about the various cleaning, landscape, maintenance and even craft products we routinely use around our home or workplace.  Finding a source of pertinent chemical safety information about specific products is usually time consuming, difficult and the results are often suspect.

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have compiled health and safety information on over 4,000 products used in the household and workplace.  The Household Products Database is provided in digital form and is available on the Internet via the HHS website.

Direct access to the Household Products Database can be obtained by clicking on the image of the web site’s home page below:

Clickable Image of Household Products Database Website

Information provided in the database is relatively straightforward and easy to understand plus there are links to more detailed data via HSS/NIH technical compilations about toxicology, chemical hazards and a variety of other themes.

Though the original databases were originally designed for scientists, medical professionals and other interested technical parties, the Household Products Database was designed to also provide useful information to the general public. As indicated on the database’s home page image above, the database structure is sub-divided first by product category.

Once a specific category is selected, the database is further sub-divided into different use classifications and then specific products are identified by brand and product name where fairly detailed information about chemical safety information for each product is listed.

The HHS/NIH Household Product Database website provides a web portal where questions such as the following can be answered:

• Who are the manufacturers for the different brands and how might they be contacted?
• Do the products you normally use contain chemicals you should worry about?
• What chemicals are present in the brand you use and how much of each are present?
• What are the potential health effects of the chemicals in household products?
• How safe are the chemicals present in household products?
• What actions are recommended if someone is inappropriately exposed to the chemicals in a product?

And so forth …

Much of the initial information provided in the Household Products Database was compiled from information and data provide by the manufacturer or their representative in the form of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).  If more detailed information is desired about the chemicals listed in the search results, additional links to more technically detailed databases (often compiled from sources other than the manufacturer) are also provided.

If you would like more information about the Household Products Database or the other information sources accessible from the HHS/NIH site, contact: tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov.

It is amazing how easy it can be to make a transition from a “typical” American lifestyle and adapt to a new green lifestyle by making a few simple changes in our normal routine to start living green.

Green living changes can come by simply changing a light bulb; using green cleaners; or unplugging an electrical device when not is use.  Even with simple little tasks like those, the change to a green lifestyle is sometimes slow in coming and an ever-evolving process.

As I mention during the site introductory post found on the “About” page, we have tried to maintain some level of a green lifestyle though for most of our married life.

Much of the time however, it was definitely one I would refer to as “convenient green”.  In other words, if a change in routine or a new purchase was convenient and green, it often got implemented.

Convenient green changes made earlier in our daily lives included:

• Beginning stages of implementing the three “Rs” – recycling, reusing, and reducing materials involved partaking in municipal refuse/recycling curbside programs; re-use of materials such as using the back side of printed drafts as note pads; or reducing material packaging by buying bulk and concentrated items.
• Use of brick in older toilet tanks to reduce the amount of water used with each flush. The brick was ultimately replaced with water in container since bricks degraded and created other issues with the tank flush mechanism. Note: Many newer toilets (purchased after 1994) were designed to be low-flush systems that used ~ 25% to 50% less water than older models.
• Replaced paper towels, placemats and napkins with cloth versions (fortunately my wife loves sewing and makes all our placemat and napkin sets).

Over the last several years, however, there has been a conscious effort to change our daily routines and use patterns to further green our lifestyle.  Many of the changes require breaking old habits and although they took effort (along with some trial and error) it all appears to be worth it in the long run.

Some of the more recent changes and alterations include:

• Replacing most of the incandescent bulbs in the house with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL);
• Use of reusable water bottles and an in-house filtration system in place of bottled water;
• Use of concentrated green cleaners (lower cost/less packaging/less energy);
• Un-plugging charging devices (cell phone, MP3 players, etc.) when not in use;
• Making use of natural light and heat whenever possible (which is most days when the sun is shining since the main living area of the house is south facing;
• Limiting running water use when washing, brushing teeth, doing dishes by hand, using dishwasher when completely loaded; and
• Recycling shopping bags, egg cartons, clothes, usable household goods and boxes by donating to local businesses and charities.

As time moves on, so does our continuing efforts to upgrade our green lifestyle altering more and more aspects of our regular routine so our activities are both Earth-friendly and sustainable.

The best thing about making the change to a green lifestyle is that most of the changes not only help the environment by lessening our personal demand on resources (Earth-friendly) but also tend to save money in the process.

So who says maintaining a green lifestyle has to be expensive?   Not us!

Start living green and prosper as well …