Hair, Nails & Chemo

[rot]

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I normally save all my hair and beard trimmings plus my nail clippings in a bucket. I balance out that mix with torn up toilet paper rolls. Every so often I add the bucket of hair and nails to my compost pile.

I've been on chemo the last few months and I'm almost done. I'm thinking it would be bad to add my hair and nails to the compost bin while I've been on chemo. This is a modest to small bin in an add as I go fashion with no mixing. I just add water and when it's really full I start another one while the first rots down to finished compost.

Anybody have any thoughts on the matter? I hate to throw out the extra variety of ingredients but I just don't trust this chemo kerrap.

Thanks in advance
to sense
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[rainbowgardener]

wow... that's hard core. I think of myself as composting "everything" and I don't do that. I don't really know, but I would err on the side of caution. As you are certainly very aware, those are harsh chemicals that are designed to kill cells.

[rot]

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Hair and nails don't amount to much in mass but I like the variety - nitrogens that take a while to break down. I also like putting a little bit of me into the compost. Since my hair is long, it's no big deal to empty the hair brush into one bucket versus the trash which to me is just another bucket.

I agree that the chemo chemicals are harsh and that's why I'm tending to trash that stuff rather than pollute my bin. You know how it is, I just hate to throw away good stuff.

Thanks again
to sense
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[rainbowgardener]

I was still thinking about this. First I'm really sorry that you have had to go through chemo and I hope you are doing OK. It occurred to me that they use hair to test for drug use or exposure to chemicals any time in at least the past 3 months, if not more. So clearly those substances are in the hair.

[rot]

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Chemo is almost done. Mine was easier than most just a few months. Moving on.

I do hate throwing away otherwise good material for the bin. But the hair and nails are tainted and that's all there is to it.

Thanks again
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[applestar]

Grow lots of good stuff with your otherwise wonderful compost even if it's missing a bit of you this batch around.

... I love that concept. I never thought of it that way though I do put them in the compost pile. Since I save TP tubes, I put nail clippings in the bag for them if I clip my nails or hair in the bathroom, and if I clip my nails in the family room in front of the TV, and get ready to clean up, a few steps will take me to the kitchen compost ingredient collection bag, so why not put them in there rather than the garbage?

[toxcrusadr]

IMHO this is not a problem. The small percentage that may find its way into hair and nails + dilution effects in the compost + biodegradation in the compost + further dilution into the soil + limited ability of plants to take up chemicals out of the soil = the risk is miniscule. That's the scientific approach.

OTOH if it just makes you queasy to put that in the compost, it's totally up to you. :-]