Abstract
Urban growers want to know about soil fertility and potential soil contamination. We investigated if a commonly used soil fertility test, the Mehlich-3 nutrient extraction, could be used for both of these purposes. The Mehlich-3 soil test has traditionally been used test to measure soil fertility (Mehlich Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 15:1409–1416, 1984). It is routinely available at soil test laboratories and is typically not cost prohibitive. While it has been used to measure plant nutrients, it is relatively simple for laboratories to include Pb in the suite of elements that are analyzed. Our results indicate that the soil fertility test results can provide a soil test screening value for Pb. Using a routine extraction provides a cost effective and rapid way for urban farmers to assess whether their soil is contaminated, in addition to evaluating soil nutrient levels.
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References
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Additional Resources
Soil lead (Pb) is a well-studied contaminant and is discussed widely, including within extension publications, newspaper articles, peer-reviewed articles, and web sites. For the peer-reviewed literature related to using common soil tests to screen for contaminants, you may be interested in the following:
Additional information regarding California soil Pb standards can be found here:
Revised California Human Health Screening Levels for Lead http://oehha.ca.gov/risk/soils091709.html, http://oehha.ca.gov/risk/pdf/LeadCHHSL091709.pdf
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains an extensive web site about Pb: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/
The Environmental Protection Agency maintains an extensive website about Pb: http://www2.epa.gov/lead
The SW-846 test methods, http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/testmethods/sw846/
EPA Method 1340 http://www.epa.gov/wastes/hazard/testmethods/sw846/pdfs/1340.pdf
EPA Method 3051A http://www.epa.gov/wastes/hazard/testmethods/sw846/pdfs/3051a.pdf
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Obrycki, J.F., Minca, K.K., Basta, N.T. (2016). Screening for Soil Lead Using a Common Soil Test Method. In: Hodges Snyder, E., McIvor, K., Brown, S. (eds) Sowing Seeds in the City. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7456-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7456-7_12
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