Gardenroots Recommendations & Resources

Recommendations

Calculations of estimated average arsenic daily dose from the three potential exposure routes measured suggested that arsenic exposure was greatest from drinking water (when assuming the primary source of water for irrigation is also used for drinking), followed by incidental soil ingestion, with a relatively small contribution from homegrown vegetable ingestion. When combining greenhouse and home garden data, Asteraceae (lettuce) and Brassicaceae (radish, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbage) families were the top accumulators of arsenic. This finding has been reported in other studies.

Thus, it is recommended that Dewey-Humboldt community members:

Test drinking water yearly
Test soils prior to gardening
Modify gardening behavior to reduce incidental soil ingestion
Limit the use of homegrown vegetables from the Asteraceae and Brassicaceae families