Heavy metal-flavoured urban salads

Urban agriculture is gaining importance as a social means to produce food locally. However cities are well-known sources of pollution, which may contaminate urban crops. There is actually little knowledge on the degree of contamination of urban vegetables. Agronomists Vittori Antisari et al. analysed the heavy metal content of vegetables in the city of Bologna, Italy. They found that the most contaminated vegetables grew near roads, which is explained by traffic pollution.