Flint Water Contamination: Potential Food Safety Issues

Much research has been done looking at various crops and their relative abilities to accumulate heavy metals while growing, Tocco relates. “Certain vegetables are less likely to accumulate harmful levels of heavy metals than others,” he says.

“In general, heavy metals tend to accumulate in root, leaf, and stem tissue,” Tocco elaborates. “Those vegetables that arise from flowers and are botanically considered fruits are less likely to have harmful levels of heavy metals than leaf, stem, or root crops. In areas where heavy metals are a concern in both soil and water, it is important to keep these things in mind when creating garden plans and selecting seeds.”

Crediting “Lead levels of edibles grown in contaminated residential soils: a field survey,”published in the Science of the Total Environment, Tocco is quick to mention vegetables that are the best choice for situations where heavy metals are a problem, and ones to avoid.

Low risk vegetables include tomatoes, peppers, beans, and zucchini.

“Low risk assumes these vegetables are washed well with a food grade detergent and potable water before consumption,” Tocco emphasizes.

Moderate risk vegetables are cucumbers and melons. High risk vegetables include potatoes, carrots, radishes, onions, collard greens, Swiss chard, lettuce, mint, and cilantro.

“Empower Flint” App
A new mobile device app called “Empower Flint” was recently launched by a team of MSU researchers and WKAR, its affiliate PBS station, in collaboration with Flint residents who test piloted the app.

The app’s features include:

• A “find” operation that allows the user to search for the closest water stations, free water filters and sources of nutritious food, and then pull up a map for directions;
• Push notifications on timely information such as boil water alerts;
• Water safety tips on dealing with the Flint water crisis;
• Health tips to keep families safe and/or deal with lead poisoning issues;
• Nutrition tips to limit the damage of lead exposure;
• Pet safety tips to keep pets safe from lead;
• Community connections for people interested in volunteering and those needing help; and
• A news feed with the latest Flint news.