Is Ironite any good for garden?

[Bobberman]

I was in the tractor supply yesterday and saw a 40 pound sack of this ironite for 99 cents so I bought two since it was riginally $9! It said for gardens or lawns. I looked it up on net but has anyone used it?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Not in my garden!

‣ Testing of Ironite by the state of Minnesota shows that the product contains up to 6020
parts per million arsenic and 3400 parts per million lead. According to information provided
by the Ironite Products Company and published by the Washington State Department of
Agriculture, it contains 4380 parts per million arsenic and 2940 parts per million lead. These
ingredients are not listed on the label.
‣ In 1998, the state of Oregon performed a hazardous-waste test on Ironite. Oregon found
that Ironite classifies as a hazardous waste due to the levels of arsenic in the product.
The company claims the product is safe because the toxic chemicals are bound tightly and are
not absorbed by the body. However, the state of Washington conducted tests to determine
whether the arsenic and lead in Ironite are bioavailable and the tests indicated that up to 36%
of the arsenic and up to 81% of the lead is bioavailable

the rest is here.
https://dynamics.org/Altenberg/PROJECTS/MAUI/IRONITE/IroniteConsumerFacts.pdf

Eric

[Bobberman]

So its better to use it on the lawn and not in the garden! Thanks!

[DoubleDogFarm]

So its better to use it on the lawn and not in the garden! Thanks!

Better, Yes, I guess. I personally don't want lead or arsenic in the environment.

Have you been to an old mininig site that used cyanide / arsenic to leach out gold? The old tanks are still there and the whole slope is dead.

Eric

[gixxerific]

I agree with DDF you and the rest of the world is better off not using that at all.

[Bobberman]

Ironite probably is ba to some degree! Just like anything else someone always gives something a bad rap! I had extensive chemistry in college and even nuclear physics and you would be surprised the dangers all around you that you never consider! Trace elements even poison ones help make life work and reserch seems to change all time where something bad years later is now good! Reserch on oils have changed over the years and the same with vitamins so who is really correct in the long run! Look at the bad egg if you eat it but what are they saying now! A vegetable may eat something bad if the soil lacks something else but who really knows? The trouble with reserch is too many variables and someone trying to make a name for themselves!! I don't have the answers buy I am looking!

[garden5]

For me, I'm content with my compost. I may use some bone meal, cotton seed meal, etc. in the future, but that's even if I get around to it.