Soil Quality and Trace Element Risk in Urban and Rural Kitchen Gardens: A Comparative Analysis.

ABSTRACT: The development and use of urban spaces for food production is increasing in response to the search for healthier foods and contact with nature. These spaces can be created or built on materials of various types, which might contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs). This study focuses on the evaluation of soil fertility and contamination levels in urban and rural kitchen gardens in Lisbon, Portugal. Soils of twenty kitchen gardens (nurban = 15; nrural = 5) were sampled, and their physicochemical characteristics and the contents of PTEs in the total and available fractions were analyzed. The results were used to calculate contamination indices and associated ecological risk. The soils of the urban and rural kitchen gardens had a neutral pH, with the presence of carbonate forms, and moderat

SUBMITTER: Aran D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12389907 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature