Macquarie University/The Lighthouse
New research has found Australian backyard gardens near busy roads and in older homes often have high levels of lead and other contaminants in their soil, making them unsafe to grow food.
More than a third of the soil tested across thousands of Australian homes had unsafe levels of lead, according to new research from Macquarie University’s VegeSafe, the largest citizen science program of its kind.
Digging deep: Research Fellow Dr Cynthia Isley, Master of Research student Kara Fry and Professor Mark Taylor in the lab at Macquarie University.
“Our program has helped thousands of home gardeners across Australia make sure the food they grow is safe to eat,” says Professor Mark Taylor, an environmental and human health scientist at Macquarie University who set up the VegeSafe program in 2013.
One-third of backyard vege patches could have toxic levels of lead
Sydneysiders are being warned their veggie patches might be poisoning them.
Toxic levels of lead have been found in gardens across the city - with experts warning the contamination carries major health risks.
Professor Mark Taylor said lead s side effects are numerous, but particularly dangerous for children.
READ MORE: The effects would include developmental delays, ADHD behaviours, increased irritability, and poorer executive functioning.
Professor Taylor s recent VegeSafe program at Macquarie University found that one-third of backyard gardens across Australia are likely to produce food with unsafe levels of lead.
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Push to reduce the amount of lead in drinking water by changing taps
A push is on to remove a dangerous source of lead in our drinking water, with building authorities recommending that billions of dollars worth of taps and other plumbing be replaced.
While our drinking water is generally safe, there is a fear that poisonous lead may be leaching from brass fittings.
The Australian Building Codes Board is about to release a new draft National Construction Code, with a key change to the allowable amount of lead from fittings - reducing it from the current 6 per cent to 0.25 per cent, the standard already used in countries such as the US and Canada.