IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i6p2069-d334871.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Atlanta Residents’ Knowledge Regarding Heavy Metal Exposures and Remediation in Urban Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Lauren Balotin

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Samantha Distler

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Antoinette Williams

    (Department of Health Policy, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Samuel J.W. Peters

    (Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30322; USA)

  • Candis M. Hunter

    (Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30322; USA)

  • Chris Theal

    (Historic Westside Gardens Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30314, USA)

  • Gil Frank

    (Historic Westside Gardens Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30314, USA)

  • Taranji Alvarado

    (Historic Westside Gardens Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30314, USA)

  • Rosario Hernandez

    (Historic Westside Gardens Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30314, USA)

  • Arthur Hines

    (Historic Westside Gardens Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA 30314, USA)

  • Eri Saikawa

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
    Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30322; USA)

Abstract

Urban agriculture and gardening provide many health benefits, but the soil is sometimes at risk of heavy metal and metalloid (HMM) contamination. HMM, such as lead and arsenic, can result in adverse health effects for humans. Gardeners may face exposure to these contaminants because of their regular contact with soil and consumption of produce grown in urban areas. However, there is a lack of research regarding whether differential exposure to HMM may be attributed to differential knowledge of exposure sources. In 2018, industrial slag and hazardous levels of soil contamination were detected in West Atlanta. We conducted community-engaged research through surveys and follow-up interviews to understand awareness of slag, HMM in soil, and potential remediation options. Home gardeners were more likely to recognize HMM health effects and to cite health as a significant benefit of gardening than community gardeners. In terms of knowledge, participants were concerned about the potential health effects of contaminants in soil yet unconcerned with produce in their gardens. Gardeners’ knowledge on sources of HMM exposure and methods for remediation were low and varied based on racial group.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauren Balotin & Samantha Distler & Antoinette Williams & Samuel J.W. Peters & Candis M. Hunter & Chris Theal & Gil Frank & Taranji Alvarado & Rosario Hernandez & Arthur Hines & Eri Saikawa, 2020. "Atlanta Residents’ Knowledge Regarding Heavy Metal Exposures and Remediation in Urban Agriculture," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-27, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:6:p:2069-:d:334871
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/2069/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/2069/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Candis M. Hunter & Dana H. Z. Williamson & Matthew O. Gribble & Halle Bradshaw & Melanie Pearson & Eri Saikawa & P. Barry Ryan & Michelle Kegler, 2019. "Perspectives on Heavy Metal Soil Testing Among Community Gardeners in the United States: A Mixed Methods Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Sugie Lee, 2011. "Analyzing intra-metropolitan poverty differentiation: causes and consequences of poverty expansion to suburbs in the metropolitan Atlanta region," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(1), pages 37-57, February.
    3. Hanna-Attisha, M. & LaChance, J. & Sadler, R.C. & Schnepp, A.C., 2016. "Elevated blood lead levels in children associated with the flint drinking water crisis: A spatial analysis of risk and public health response," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(2), pages 283-290.
    4. Lisa Palmer, 2018. "Urban agriculture growth in US cities," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 5-7, January.
    5. Daniel M. Deocampo & Phillip Jack Reed & Alexander P. Kalenuik, 2012. "Road Dust Lead (Pb) in Two Neighborhoods of Urban Atlanta, (GA, USA)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-11, May.
    6. Susan L. Cutter & Bryan J. Boruff & W. Lynn Shirley, 2003. "Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(2), pages 242-261, June.
    7. Litt, J.S. & Soobader, M.-J. & Turbin, M.S. & Hale, J.W. & Buchenau, M. & Marshall, J.A., 2011. "The influence of social involvement, neighborhood aesthetics, and community garden participation on fruit and vegetable consumption," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(8), pages 1466-1473.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marini, Michele & Caro, Dario & Thomsen, Marianne, 2023. "Investigating local policy instruments for different types of urban agriculture in four European cities: A case study analysis on the use and effectiveness of the applied policy instruments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Esther Sanyé-Mengual & Francesco Orsini & Giorgio Gianquinto, 2018. "Revisiting the Sustainability Concept of Urban Food Production from a Stakeholders’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi, 2021. "Long-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Yi Peng, 2015. "Regional earthquake vulnerability assessment using a combination of MCDM methods," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 234(1), pages 95-110, November.
    4. Meryl Jagarnath & Tirusha Thambiran & Michael Gebreslasie, 2020. "Heat stress risk and vulnerability under climate change in Durban metropolitan, South Africa—identifying urban planning priorities for adaptation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 807-829, November.
    5. Ashley C. Freeman & Walker S. Ashley, 2017. "Changes in the US hurricane disaster landscape: the relationship between risk and exposure," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 88(2), pages 659-682, September.
    6. Yongdeng Lei & Jing’ai Wang & Yaojie Yue & Hongjian Zhou & Weixia Yin, 2014. "Rethinking the relationships of vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation from a disaster risk perspective," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 70(1), pages 609-627, January.
    7. Pujun Liang & Wei Xu & Yunjia Ma & Xiujuan Zhao & Lianjie Qin, 2017. "Increase of Elderly Population in the Rainstorm Hazard Areas of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Kamaldeen Mohammed & Evans Batung & Moses Kansanga & Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Isaac Luginaah, 2021. "Livelihood diversification strategies and resilience to climate change in semi-arid northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-23, February.
    9. R. Bryson Touchstone & Kathleen Sherman-Morris, 2016. "Vulnerability to prolonged cold: a case study of the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(2), pages 1279-1300, September.
    10. Eric Tate, 2012. "Social vulnerability indices: a comparative assessment using uncertainty and sensitivity analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(2), pages 325-347, September.
    11. Xiao‐Bing Hu & Hang Li & XiaoMei Guo & Pieter H. A. J. M. van Gelder & Peijun Shi, 2019. "Spatial Vulnerability of Network Systems under Spatially Local Hazards," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(1), pages 162-179, January.
    12. Cailin Wang & Jidong Wu & Xin He & Mengqi Ye & Wenhui Liu & Rumei Tang, 2018. "Emerging Trends and New Developments in Disaster Research after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Rio Yonson & Ilan Noy & JC Gaillard, 2018. "The measurement of disaster risk: An example from tropical cyclones in the Philippines," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 736-765, May.
    14. Yi Ge & Guangfei Yang & Yi Chen & Wen Dou, 2019. "Examining Social Vulnerability and Inequality: A Joint Analysis through a Connectivity Lens in the Urban Agglomerations of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    15. Muhammad Suhail Rizwan & Asifa Obaid & Dawood Ashraf, 2017. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Default Risk: Empirical evidence from US Firms," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(3), pages 36-70, September.
    16. N. Zhang & H. Huang, 2018. "Assessment of world disaster severity processed by Gaussian blur based on large historical data: casualties as an evaluating indicator," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 92(1), pages 173-187, May.
    17. Abdollahzadeh, Gholamhossein & Sharifzadeh, Mohammad Sharif & Sklenička, Petr & Azadi, Hossein, 2023. "Adaptive capacity of farming systems to climate change in Iran: Application of composite index approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    18. Alessio Russo & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2019. "Edible urbanism 5.0," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Irina Tumini & Paula Villagra-Islas & Geraldine Herrmann-Lunecke, 2017. "Evaluating reconstruction effects on urban resilience: a comparison between two Chilean tsunami-prone cities," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(3), pages 1363-1392, February.
    20. Maximiliano Oportus & Rodrigo Cienfuegos & Alejandro Urrutia & Rafael Aránguiz & Patricio A. Catalán & Matías A. Hube, 2020. "Ex post analysis of engineered tsunami mitigation measures in the town of Dichato, Chile," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(1), pages 367-406, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:6:p:2069-:d:334871. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.