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Collective conceptualization and management of risk for arsenic pollution in urban community gardens

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Abstract

At the global scale, an increase in urban gardening activities is being observed and the question of produce quality is therefore regularly investigated in relation to pollutant transfer in the environment. The scientific question investigated in the present study was in what way is the presence of arsenic pollution detected in community gardens a public problem and how would each party take ownership of this issue? An interdisciplinary and participative research study “JASSUR” based on both agronomy and risk assessments was conducted in a French collective garden impacted by arsenic pollution in the well water used for irrigation. Gardener surveys and public meetings examined the gardeners’ representations of risk and research solutions for sustainable site management. The theoretical framework of Gilbert which applies a social construction of risk was used. Without an official arsenic limit concentration for vegetables produced in the gardens, a collective risk construction and management process took place. Arsenic total and human bioaccessible concentrations were measured in both vegetables and soil and compared to reference data from a national database to assess the level of health risk. Vegetable quantities produced were obtained in the field from gardeners using harvest booklets. On the basis of a quantitative assessment of the health risk due to produced vegetable consumption, it was concluded that gardening activities could safely continue. However, the regional health authorities forbid the use of the arsenic polluted water, and the wells were permanently closed. By favoring the exchanges between the gardeners and the other stakeholders (researchers and politicians), the arsenic pollution led to structuration in the community of gardeners and permitted a collective construction of risk management.

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Acknowledgments

This work has received support from the National Research Agency under reference ANR-12-0011-VBDU. Thanks to the CERTOP laboratory, Toulouse INP, ENSFA, and UPS for their support to the “Réseau-Agriville” promoting interdisciplinary teaching innovation and participatory research on urban agricultures.

Funding

A socio-technical and multi-stakeholder study on sustainable management of arsenic pollutions is being conducted as part of Bio-Asie research program due to funding from the French Ministry “Foreign Affairs and International Development” (MAEDI, Project 36099TC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CERTOP UMR 5044 CNRS-UT2J-UPS, Maison de la Recherche, Université Toulouse, Jean Jaurès, 5, allée Antonio Machado, 31058, Toulouse Cedex 9, France

    Camille Dumat

  2. Toulouse INP, 6 Allée Emile Monso, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Camille Dumat

  3. Association Réseau-Agriville, Castanet-Tolosan, France

    Camille Dumat

  4. Ecotoxicity Laboratory, Faculty of Environment and Biochemistry, University of Castilla - La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

    Antoine Pierart

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Vehari, 61100, Pakistan

    Muhammad Shahid

  6. School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Jingtao Wu

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  1. Camille Dumat
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  2. Antoine Pierart
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  3. Muhammad Shahid
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  4. Jingtao Wu
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Correspondence to Camille Dumat.

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Dumat, C., Pierart, A., Shahid, M. et al. Collective conceptualization and management of risk for arsenic pollution in urban community gardens. Rev Agric Food Environ Stud 99, 167–187 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-018-0073-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-018-0073-x

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