It’s planting season for leafy greens and summer veggies in Cleveland. 

But before you get those seeds in the ground, officials say it’s a good practice in post-industrial Cuyahoga County to test your garden soil for lead. Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, including developmental delays in children. 

Lead primarily poses a hazard when its particles are inhaled or consumed – such as through small amounts of dirt left behind on unwashed hands or produce. Plants themselves don’t absorb large amounts of lead from the surrounding soil except for certain root vegetables, according to the Ohio Department of Health.  

“If there’s any lead in the soil – or high levels – you are exposing yourself to that lead in the soil, you know, just by digging in there,” said Amy Roskilly, the conservation education and communications manager at the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. 

“So it’s just a safety precaution, really.”

That’s especially true since the EPA recently lowered the amount of lead it considers to be safe in residential soils. 

So how do you get your garden soil tested? Free options are limited, but it can typically be done for a reasonable cost, wrote Zainab Pixler, the City of Cleveland’s Local Food Systems Strategies Coordinator, in an email to Signal Cleveland. 

Read below for information on how to test your soil.

Who should test their garden soil?

Anyone using their soil for food, Roskilly said – especially if you’re in Cuyahoga County. That’s because much of the area is formerly industrial or has housing built before lead paint was outlawed for use in homes.

“I’m guessing the majority of soils in Cuyahoga County have some sort of lead in some way, shape, or form,” Roskilly said. “…The closer you get into our urban core, you would have more lead in there, based on the land usage.”

The City of Cleveland requires gardeners using property from the city’s land bank to test the soil for lead. Gardeners in the Summer Sprout program – a community gardening partnership between the city and the Ohio State University extension center – must also check for lead.

Where do I get my garden soil tested for lead?

Sending your soil off to a lab is the typical way to get it tested. The Ohio State University Extension Center lists available laboratory options here. Cost varies by lab.

The extension center also occasionally offers its own soil testing events, such as one last October that cost $30 per sample.  

The Cuyahoga Soil and Water District offers free tests of basic nutrients and soil matter, though it does cost $30 extra to screen for lead contamination. 

The Cuyahoga Soil and Water District – and many labs – also offer testing for cadmium and arsenic. Along with lead, these heavy metals are the most widespread pollutants in urban and rural residential soils, according to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. 

Are there free lead testing options?

In 2023 and 2024, the U.S. EPA held events that offered free soil testing for lead. But that likely won’t occur this year. 

“EPA does not expect to offer any soil testing workshops this year,” a spokesperson for the EPA wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland. 

Another way to get free testing is by registering for Summer Sprout. The program covers the cost of testing the soil of participating community gardens, Pixler wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland. 

But to join the program, the community garden must meet relatively stringent criteria, such as having more than five gardeners who are from different families. 

What level of lead is safe?

In 2024, the EPA lowered the amount of lead it considered safe in residential soils. The agency regulates the concentration of the metal by measuring how much lead is in one kilogram of soil, also called parts per million. The EPA lowered its lead screening level from 400 parts per million to 200 parts per million.    

The City of Cleveland allows gardening on land bank property if lead levels are less than 200 parts per million. Levels between 200 and 700 parts per million would require a raised bed. 

The city does not allow urban agriculture on land bank property if lead levels exceed 700 parts per million.