1. Theoretical part (about 3 weeks from 20 Feb to 12 March) Literature search for current knowledge on air pollution in relation to urban farming: where is the accumulation; what kind of pollution can we find (dusts, dioxins, PM, heavy metalsâŠ); what are the thresholds on the vegetables and fruits? 2. Policy in the Netherlands (about 4 weeks, from 13 March to 9 April) Interviews and surveys with policy makers, trip around the Netherlands: are they aware on air pollution on urban agriculture; if so, how do they deal with it. 3. Practical (11 weeks) a. Measuring networks (airborne contamination) on spinach in two or three urban gardens in Amsterdam. Standard biomonitoring techniques will be used with focus on accumulation of heavy metals Cd and Hg and PAKs in spinach (database with reference data available) b. Analysis will be pursued in an external lab (I might not be able to do it). c. Modelling or describing of different scenarios for: uptake routes by the plants: gaseous uptake via stomata vs. deposition on surfaces; airborne vs soil uptake of pollution (buildings, parkings) The dates are not fixed, there probably will be some overlap between the three parts. It depends on the weather and the ability of making spinach to grow.
