The pollution hangs heavy in the air in major cities, and the soil is often contaminated. So is it healthy or dangerous to grow your own vegetables in the city, and how many of the hazardous substances end up in your home grown vegetables? Read the answers here.
The idea is to utilize the space you have and grow his vegetables themselves. The phenomenon comes from large U.S. cities garden gym raisio such as New York, where local residents have long grown small herb gardens in parks, on rooftops and other atypical garden gym raisio places.
Is the vibrant city at an appropriate place for a budding carrot? With the city's heavy traffic and polluted air and soil, you may have wondered whether you like urban gardener in fact grow carrots toxic and dangerous salad.
- If you compare it to the risk of living in a big city and breathe, then fades risk from the vegetables garden gym raisio completely, says Associate Professor Jakob Magid, Department of Soil Science, University of Copenhagen. garden gym raisio
A large intake of unpeeled vegetables that are grown in a highly contaminated soil, will in the course of 70 years will lead to two additional cases of cancer in a group of 1 million inhabitants. In comparison, air pollution cause more than 50,000 premature deaths in the same period.
Associate Professor Stefan Trapp from DTU Environment research into how plants absorb unwanted substances from polluted air and soil. He is about to start a study up on just urban gardening to provide clear answers to the extent garden gym raisio that end up hazardous substances in fruits and vegetables that are grown in the town.
Stefan Trapp is even urban gardener and has no qualms about supplementing his daily diet with small amounts of home-grown vegetables. He has only the caveat that you should not grow winter kale in town because the plant when recording garden gym raisio many particles.
Stefan Trapp says that it is especially heavy metals and so-called garden gym raisio PAH compounds, in particular, comes from cars burning, which may be slightly higher amounts of the urban vegetables. But the degree of contamination can vary widely in different garden gym raisio areas of the city.
It is difficult to compare urban vegetables with those from conventional or organic farming. Conventional farming can eg be brought close to busy highways, so the crops can be quickly transported away, and so is the air pollution might just as bad as in the city.
Although urban vegetables are more prone to contamination during garden gym raisio cultivation, they in turn are not transported. At the same time, both conventional and organic vegetables absorb unwanted substances garden gym raisio from their stay in a warehouse, from packaging and from contamination during transport.
Carrot from conventional farming garden gym raisio Organic Carrot Carrot grown in the town of pesticides Yes No No - not unless you are using the POP - persistante organic pollutants from the air and rain Yes Yes Yes - PAH compounds from traffic and combustion Yes, and slightly more than in the two other carrots Heavy metals Possibly Possibly Yes, and slightly more than in the other two carrots Substances included in preservation, packaging and transportation Yes Yes No
- From an overall perspective, it can not be anything but beneficial to people growing their vegetables themselves. It provides fresh air, exercise and social interaction with nature for people who would otherwise have lost touch with where their food comes from. All this must then be weighed against the extreme low risk, he says.
City of Copenhagen afford safe vegetable growing at slightly contaminated soil Grow in raised beds. Wash fruits and vegetables before you eat it. Peel root vegetables. Brush the ground of you and wash your hands after gardening. Cover the. bare soil in the beds - it's mostly if you have small children so they do not play with contaminated soil.
Sources: Read City of Copenhagen's advice about growing vegetables in lightly contaminated soil Read the EPA report on vegetables intake of undesirable substances Read, traffic can contaminate your apples on videnskab.dk Read more about urban gardening Rebekah Lewin's blog, City Human
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