7. Conclusion

This original study of an area heavily contaminated by metals involved a large number of gardens. The multidisciplinary approach made it possible to acquire both environmental data, with numerous samples of soil, garden produce and compost, and social data to better assess gardeners' exposure to metal pollutants, particularly lead and cadmium.

Several points emerge from this experience:

• high intra-cell variability and heterogeneity of physico-chemical parameters and Cd and Pb concentrations in soils. This result argues in favor of a sampling strategy that combines plant and soil sampling. The aim is to take better account of intra-plot variability. On the other hand, in view of the fact that the average soil sample is supposed to be representative of the vegetable garden, this strategy generates considerable additional...