Topic: Your views gratefully received

[Plantsman.]

A friend has been offered the rental of an allotment plot.

It is immediately adjacent to a busy major motorway intersection - a rough hedge of various trees at the bottom of the plot, beyond which is the motorway embankment.  The constant noise will likely become less obvious in time - but, and here is the big question - will traffic exhaust pollution enter the soil and subsequently be taken up in some chemical form by the vegetable plants and be ingested by the consumer - my friend and family.
I know of nowhere locally or nationally that deals with this specific situation and has data available.  Naturally the other plot holders have mixed views, not surprisingly as not all plots are immediately beside the motorway. There is no obvious sign of air pollution, but then would there necessarily have to be a smell to indicate danger.

[gavin]

Hi Peter - you've probably picked this link up already?

http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg3.htm

If not, hope its of some use - all best, Gavin

[Plantsman.]

Many thanks Gavin, that is just the kind of informative report I was hoping to be able to pass on to my friend.

It seems that a soil/lead analysis is the way to a conclusion.

I had  visited the HDRA site but failed to see that particular page.


Peter.

[ScrumpyJack]

Hi there,  just thought I'd add the following.  Lead is far less significant as a pollutant since the rise of unleaded petrols.  Check out the following link and NSCA site in general gives loads of info on health effects and other land contamination issues.  Recent research has suggested that pollution from motorways travels far less distance than previously thought (only 60m on a busy stretch of the 3 lane M4 and only 10m on a two lane road, ie only just beyond the hard shoulder)

www.nsca.org.uk/pages/topics_and_issues/air_effects_plants.cfm

[Plantsman.]

Thanks for the further information site.

[clare]

Hi Plantsman..

finally, a topic I can reply to with some authority... being an air quality scientist!

as mentioned in the post above, the potential impact of the air pollution will really depend on how far away from the edge of the road the site is.  

you mention the site is next to the embankment - is this at the same level as the site or is it elevated or lower than the site... this is another factor that will influence the amount of air pollution that reaches the allotment.

it would be worth checking out where the site is located in relation to the predominant wind direction - it could be that the wind tends to blow the air pollution away from the site.

The hedge should help to remove some of the pollutants (such as particles) from reaching the site.  

Lead is no longer a significant problem in any locations in the UK with the exception of a few places which are near to indutries which emit lead.

Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned about the amount of exposure to air pollution through the soil and then food... I'd be much more worried about exposure through breathing the air pollution.

You can't smell (or see) most air pollution so there would be no easy way of telling how bad it is at the site.  You could approach the local authority to find out if they have done any air quality monitoring near to the site.   Where is the site by the way?

If you need any more advice I'll be happy to help you out,

Clare

[Plantsman.]

Thank you for you input to this subject Clare, it is now out of my hands as my gardening friend has decided that on balance the site is not going to offer the kind of environment that he wished to do his vegetable growing in. On revisiting it on two more occasions he found that the prevailing winds carried so much traffic noise that he just turned his back and walked away.  I think even had he decided that any air of soil chemical pollution was negligable he would not be able to contend with the constant noise.

[clare]

I don't blame him.. it wouldn't have been the most calm environment for growing veggies!  I hope he finds a more suitable location soon.

[skypilot]

With respect to your friend, if he starts getting headaches after a couple of hours then the CO2 content in the air is too high and its time to say goodbye !!

When I worked in London, this used to happen to me. I am now fortunately back home in Dundee where the air is relatively clearer.

As an aside, I used to live in Harlow and when I got my GSM (silver medal) out for remembrance day , it was always black, and despite cleaning it it became discoloured after a couple of months despite being kept in cotton wool. Since returning home to Dundee I have only cleaned the medal once in two years and it is still clean !!! Hmmm!!! :)

[Sarah-b]

That's really interesting skypilot- what causes that then?

sarah

[skypilot]

That's really interesting skypilot- what causes that then?

sarah

The headaches are caused by excesive Carbon Monoxide or CO2  intake, I suspect the discoloration of the silver was due to the acid content in the air.