Fruits grown in urban areas are proving not only largely free of pollutants, but more nutritious than their retail counterparts. Researchers analyzed 166 samples of apples, peaches, cherries, and other urban fruits and herbs, along with commercial varieties of the same foods. The efforts grew out of concern for high levels of lead in blood of workers harvesting and processing urban fruits. Their findings suggest that eating urban fruit is not a significant source of lead exposure. “This is a story with a good ending,” says Wellesley College professor Dan Brabander, who has previously studied lead exposure risk in urban gardens. “Not much lead in these urban-harvested fruits.”
Fruits grown in urban areas more nutritious than retail counterparts
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