114-6 Addressing “Undone Science” Through Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR): A Transformative Approach to the Challenges of Legacy Soil Lead (Pb) and Urban Agriculture

Session: Environmental Geochemistry and Health (Part I)

Presenting Author:

Daniel Brabander

Authors:

Schofield, Suzanna ¹, Kelemen, Adela², Lynch, Eliza Marie³, Lynch, Bridget Elizabeth⁴, Andrews, Danielle⁵, Hayhow, Claire⁶, Brabander, Daniel Joseph⁷

(1) Geosciences Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA, (2) Geosciences, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA, (3) Geosciences, Wellesley College, Wellesley Hills, MA, , (4) Geosciences Department, Wellesley College, Wellesley Hills, MA, , (5) The Food Project, Boston, MA, USA, (6) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, ; Geosciences, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA, (7) Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, ,

Abstract:

Pb contamination of urban soils is a biological and social toxicity in Boston, Massachusetts caused by historic and current industrial activity and legacy leaded paint and gasoline. Pb impacts neurological development and perpetuates distributional injustice in low-income communities and communities of color across generations. While urban growing is essential in promoting community activism and food justice, growers in Boston often face uncertain risks due to close contact with urban soils. The Food Project (TFP) is an urban agriculture and youth education program that employs 120 teenagers annually to help grow 150,000 pounds of fresh produce using best practices that increase soil health and limit heavy metal mobility. The Daniel J. Brabander (DJB) Lab has collaborated with TFP for twenty five years to co-develop and co-implement this mission by designing CBPR research studies that investigate undone science questions. Through two decades of youth-led workshops and community events that have impacted 120 undergraduate students, 240 high schoolers, and countless community members, the collaboration has expanded beyond its initial goals and is constantly evolving to address emerging community needs. 

Our collaborations have developed both urban agriculture and CBPR best practices over time. For example, TFP and DJB designed and implemented a free raised beds program (“Build a Garden”) that has installed over 2,000 raised beds around Boston to support individual growers. Further, decadal long surveillance of Pb concentrations in compost delivered to urban growers has resulted in changes to the city program that have brought the Pb concentrations in this growing matrix down by 75% since 2012 when Pb concentrations were exceeding the 400 μg/g Environmental Protection Agency's soil benchmark. As of 2026, over 300 household urban gardens have been tested to quantify and isotopically identify Pb risk exposure, leading to new community-based interventions, such as updated guidance on raised bed height and placement. 

This partnership demonstrates that long-term collaborations based in empathy, listening, and trust foster a cycle of question asking and answering that can shape research priorities, build diverse partnerships, and deliver community-centered deliverables that would not be possible within a non-CBPR format. 

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