The Soil Blitz sampling campaign, organized by the Soil Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Research Group at RECETOX in September 2024, has already produced results. During the campaign, members of the public in Brno carried out soil health surveys on their properties in the city. Participants were trained to become citizen scientists. They were given sampling kits to carry out the measurements themselves. The collected data provided an accurate and comparable overview of the soil conditions in the region, which scientists processed into easy-to-understand infographics in collaboration with the non-profit organization Earthwatch Europe.
The Soil Blitz event was based on the concept of citizen science, which involves members of the public in scientific activities. "Soil Blitz is just one part of a larger initiative carried out within the international Benchmarks project. The main aim was to educate and engage the public, with the bonus of data giving participants information about the soil in their garden compared to other plots. The main strength of the event was that all participants did the measurements simultaneously, making the data comparable," explains researcher Marek Šudoma.
The aim of the BENCHMARKS project is to create a European network for soil health assessment that considers various climatic conditions. "Some assessment tools already exist but given the variability of soil characteristics within the European Union, it is not easy to create a comparative key. It's important to realize that soils in Portugal, for example, are difficult to compare with those in Scandinavia. And it's not just about the difference between countries; it's also crucial whether the soil is forest, urban, or agricultural. RECETOX focused on urban soil in this project," adds Marek Šudoma.
Another activity RECETOX engaged in within the project was organizing a stakeholder workshop. This was also designed to fit the citizen science format. "Usually, we create a measurement concept, collect data, analyze it, and then try to communicate it to the public. In this case, the process was reversed. We invited many stakeholders from various groups affected by the project's goals, from farmers and garden owners to public administration and the scientific community and gathered their inputs. We asked for their opinions on soil health, what they consider the most serious problems, what we should focus on, and what barriers to progress and soil health improvement exist. Based on this, we identified the main issues they wanted to address in relation to soil," says Marek Šudoma.
The results varied for each country; in the Czech Republic, for example, the topic of land use and management resonated. "At a time when we have to deal with a lot of misinformation, this approach is very good because it gives us a much broader perspective on what people are concerned about and where. Moreover, the workshop created a group of stakeholders with whom we can continue to work on the project. For our research group at RECETOX, this was the first experience with the citizen science concept, and I find this approach very interesting. I'm curious about its results," evaluates Marek Šudoma.
In the next stage of the Benchmarks project, researchers will determine a wide range of soil parameters, from basic soil properties to contamination with pesticides, metals, and persistent organic pollutants. "We will also look at biodiversity and soil health, from earthworms to smaller organisms. We will investigate soil type, land fragmentation, such as differences between enclosed plots and larger urban colonies. The results will then be compared with other EU countries," describes Marek Šudoma.
In our daily lives, we are exposed to many chemicals that can have a negative impact on our health. Cars are unique indoor spaces that are often overlooked in terms of their contribution to human exposure to chemicals, and a recent RECETOX study published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment has found very high levels of flame retardants in Czech vehicles.
Ondřej Mikeš works at the RECETOX center as an environmental epidemiologist in the Human Exposure and Risk Assessment group, focusing on external exposures in epidemiological research. In the interview, he explains what air pollution research in Brno entails, how researchers communicate measurement results to politicians and the public, and why scientists are now trying to create a digital model of the entire city.
