Worried about soil safety? Don’t chance it, test it

Increasing awareness of the risks of growing food in potentially contaminated soil has led to a surge in soil testing across the UK. Britain's industrial past has left a legacy of pollutants in some gardens, allotments and community growing spaces, raising concerns about food safety. While most sites are perfectly safe, testing can help identify potential risks, provide peace of mind and ensure that home-grown produce remains both healthy and safe to eat.

Types of Contamination

The types of potential soil contamination are many - the most common in the UK are heavy metals such as:

• lead
• mercury 
• arsenic
• various hydrocarbons produced as a result of the burning of organic matter such as wood, coal, petrol and so on
• asbestos; so-called “forever chemicals” 
• various herbicides and pesticides that may be effective at limiting unwanted growth and pests but can also leave behind elements that our harmful to human and animal health.

It is a common misconception that just because plants - be they ornamental, fruit and veg or even lawns - appear to be thriving, the soil they grow in must therefore be healthy - free from pollution and contamination. Sadly, that is not so.

Risks

The presence of potentially harmful heavy metals, hydrocarbons, asbestos and other elements that can pose significant risks to our health can exist in the soil seemingly without affecting what grows well therein. Whether these ended up in the soil because of past industrial land use in the area, lead from paint when old structures are demolished, proximity to heavy traffic or former mining sites, past flooding and even farming activities, their presence can have a potentially serious impact on our wellbeing.

If these dangers are present, we risk ingesting them by eating produce grown in the contaminated soil, inhaling dust particles kicked up by the wind or digging and even through skin contact. The risks range from minor skin irritation to kidney and bone diseases through to neurological damage, various cancers and ultimately even death.

Impact

A European Commission report into the impacts on human health of soil contamination sums up some of the most common- and potentially severe- risks:

“Health problems from cancers (arsenic, asbestos, dioxins), to neurological damage and lower IQ (lead, arsenic), kidney disease (lead, mercury, cadmium), and skeletal and bone diseases (lead, fluoride, cadmium) are serious issues, that in many cases we have yet to address. 

Heavy metals and persistent organic chemicals are of particular concern. Human activity introduces heavy metals (such as cadmium, arsenic and mercury) to our soils through mining, smelting, industry, agriculture and burning fossil fuels. 

“Our disposal of materials containing heavy metals – a long list which includes paint, electronic waste, and sewage – also contributes to the burden of heavy metal contamination. Organic chemicals are also part of our industrial legacy, and many are still widely used today.”

What to do?

Fortunately, access to testing services is no longer restricted to academics, environmental agencies, large developers facing regulatory requirements or government departments. At Safe Soil UK , we’ve set out to make soil testing straight-forward, affordable (the laboratory work involved in the testing is never going to be cheap, but we do our best to limit costs) and also help interpret the results using UK government standards where they’re available and relying on guidelines in jurisdictions further afield to fill in any blanks.

Our testing packages can give you peace of mind that your growing space is safe and/or fertile. We’re more than happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have. Please do get in touch at contact@safesoil.co.uk

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