[CANUFNET] Safety Testing of Fruits & Nuts/heavy metals + othercontaminant testing.

[Payne, Mark]

Andrea,

Beverly Hale from Guelph U has done a lot of work on vegetation uptake.
You can also try contacting Mike Payne at OMAFRA.
In my experience fruit trees do not uptake many contaminants well and
even those that are uptaken well are often at low concentrations by in
individual fruits.  I hope this was helpful.

Mark Payne, MSc. QPRA
Environmental Research and Policy Analyst
Environmental Health Team
Public Health
York Region
465 Davis Drive, Suite 240
Newmarket, ON L3Y 2P1
(905) 895 4511 x4511
toll free 1 (877) 464-9675 x4511
fax (905) 836-8315

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-----Original Message-----
From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net
[mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Andrea Dawber
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 12:54 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
Cc: a.kenney at utoronto.ca
Subject: [CANUFNET] Safety Testing of Fruits & Nuts/heavy metals +
othercontaminant testing.

Dear Canufnet folks,

GreenHere has been using Andy Kenney's tree inventory in its taget  
area for the past 2 years, and there are almost 500 fruit trees - 
pears, plums, apricots, apples, serviceberries, peaches, cherries,  
walnuts, hackberry, butternut, etc.

Food security/hunger and nutrition issues for the local communities  
could be partially addressed through the creation of a community fruit  
& nut harvesting program. (25% of families live on incomes of less  
than $20k.)

However, the area is mixed industrial/residential with 3 railway  
corridors running through it.  Air and soil contamination is a concern  
with regards to the safety of fruit to be harvested from the area.

Does anyone have any experience with testing for industrial  
contaminants in fresh fruit and/or what are the threshhold limits for  
certain contaminants i.e. heavy metals like lead and mercury?

Any guidance or expert referrals that you may have with regards to  
ensuring the safety of food harvested and/or suggested tests to do  
would be most appreciated.

Yours truly,

Andrea Dawber
GreenHere Director
Tel. 416-656-8025 ext. 371; 403
www.greenhere.ca