> The only way to know for sure is to plant your own garden Presuming you test your soil, first. Leaded paint and leaded gasoline have heavily contaminated lar

> The only way to know for sure is to plant your own garden Presuming you test your soil, first. Leaded paint and leaded gasoline have heavily contaminated large parts of residential land, especially those parts closest to buildings. Unlike with commercial produce where only a particular plant here or there may have come from a contaminated patch of land, if your garden is contaminated you're being exposed regularly. Similarly, even if all the land around you is pristine, who knows what a previous owner may have done at any particular spot. Maybe someone once stacked a dozen, leaky lead-acid batteries where you want to plant your garden. It's kind of unthinkable for many people today (if only because we're not a fix-it yourself society much anymore), but people regularly did dumb stuff like that years ago, and some still do today.