The soil used to grow potted plants and fill raised beds seems perfect. But it hides some disturbing problems for the environment and our health
Fortunately, not all vermiculite contains asbestos. “The fact that we don’t see more cases of mesothelioma in gardeners and farmers is a testament to the low percentage of contamination,” says, an asbestos expert at The Mesothelioma Center, “but repeat exposure, to even a low amount, makes it dangerous.”
Consumer safety regulations are nonexistent for most horticultural materials sold in the United States. And a complete Environmental Protection Agency ban on asbestos is , 22 years after asbestos-containing vermiculite was discovered in gardening and lawncare products from almost 20 different retail brands.Made from spongy, waterlogged layers of slowly decomposing plant matter, peat is the primary ingredient for the world’s largest. Organic, plentiful, sterile, lightweight, and nontoxic, it can hold 20 times its weight in water.
But peatlands are also the world’s largest terrestrial storer of carbon, even more than forests. Though they cover only 3 percent of land and forests cover 30 percent, peatlandsWetlands, in which peatlands are included, are already in decline—35 percent since 1970. The current system of harvesting peat can remove one thousand years’ worth of sphagnum peat moss within just one or two decades. In North America alone, 3-5 million metric tons of Canadian peat head south into the U.S.
crisis, it must be repeatedly soaked and rinsed during processing. Once the dehydrated coir bricks arrive at their destination, they again require large amounts of water for rehydration.: A recent study of Sri Lankan coir factories revealed a rate of 1,063 injuries per 1,000 workers per year.
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