Heavy Metals In Perspective | Dude Grows Archive (2024)

Greetings DGC!
Beast In The East here with some information. I want to share some research I have been doing regarding the heavy metals content of fertilizers. The Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO) has a list of state web sites that provide fertilizer component information – currently: California, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington (Reference #6). I have found the Washington site has the most complete information on each fertilizer and is the easiest to use. I’ll go through some of my findings that I think are useful. Based on my limited research, the cleanest base nutrients are either Canna synthetics or RX Green Solutions (grow and bloom, not the additives). Please note that I’m not a scientist that studies chemistry, horticulture, or any other natural science – so take my opinion with a grain of salt. However, it will be clear where my data comes from.
(I’ll put my reference sources as numbers in parentheses so you can see where my assumptions originate. The web sites are listed at the bottom of the document).
As a reference point, I researched the recommended maximum levels of heavy metals in food. I figure that if a concentrated nutrient solution or powder contains less than the maximum recommended food level, then it’s pretty safe. So, how much is too much?

Arsenic:

“The FDA standard for arsenic in food is based on its use as a food. The standard allows no more than 2 parts per million of arsenic to be present in the fresh weight of a (food) product. (Reference #1)” Note that this is fresh, undried, food. The nutrients we use are diluted by a large amount, so any nutrient with 2 ppm or less arsenic is something I would consider safe. Canna Coco A & B do not contain enough arsenic to meet detection levels. Canna Bio Vega contains 0.24 ppm. Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food 24-8-16 contains 0.875 ppm. If Miracle Grow were human food, then it would meet the guidelines for Arsenic levels.

Lead:

I found two sources for lead in food. The first relates to the danger that children are exposed to by eating candy containing lead, and sets a limit on candy to be 0.1 ppm in the candy. “This guidance document announces a recommended maximum level for lead in candy likely to be consumed frequently by small children of 0.1 ppm. (Source #2)”
Another article sets guidelines for lead in fruit juice, “Lead levels in juice above 50 ppb may constitute a health hazard. (Reference #3)” Note that 50 ppb = 0.05 ppm.
Azomite by Down To Earth contains 7 ppm lead, which is very high! A liter of Azomite contains 20,000 times the guideline maximum for fruit juice. Canna Coco A & B and Canna Bio Vega do not contain enough lead to meet detection levels. Miracle-Gro contains 0.15 ppm Lead. In comparison, vegetables grown in areas not exposed to industrial pollution contain zero to 0.26 mg of lead per pound (Reference #14), while a liter of Miracle-Gro Powder contains 0.15 mg. Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro contains 2.5 mg per liter, which is 16 times higher than Miracle-Gro.

Mercury:

I couldn’t find ppm guidelines for mercury, but I will use fish consumption as a benchmark. It is recommended that individuals consume less than 12 oz of low-mercury fish, like yellowfin tuna, per week. 12 oz of yellowfin tuna contains 0.10546 mg of Mercury. If that much were contained in a liter of nutrient, then it would have 0.11 ppm. In contrast, Cann Bio Vega contains 0.0007 ppm (Reference #5). So it would be safer to drink the liter of Canna that has 0.6% the amount of mercury when compared to the tuna. There is another benchmark we can use…
“Individuals weighing between 125-200 pounds can consume 6-9 micrograms of mercury daily. (Reference #4)” We could see that for a liter of fertilizer concentrate: 9 mcg/liter = 0.009 mg/liter = 0.009 ppm. So if you use a liter bottle of nutrient on your crop that you then consume over the course of 30 days, then your fertilizer could contain 0.27 ppm of mercury. It’s important to remember that you must consume the roots, stems, seeds, fan leaves, sugar leaves, etc of the plant to consumer the entire 0.27 ppm of mercury. That being said, I don’t really want any mercury in my fertilizer.
Canna Coco A&B do not contain enough mercury to meet minimum detection limits. Canna Bio Vega contains 0.0007 ppm mercury. Miracle-Gro contains 0.0058 ppm. Mercury doesn’t seem to be a problem in the fertilizers I considered.

Summary:

I was initially unsure if I wanted to use fertilizer that contained any heavy metals at all, but now I’m aware that most vegetables I eat and probably most soil I come into contact with already contain more heavy metal than some plant nutrients – even Miracle-Gro.
There is a little problem with my method of judgment – I base my guidelines on food items that AREN’T usually burnt and inhaled. It would be great to have guidelines for high temperature – inhaled heavy metals.
Another interesting observation when looking through the fertilizer data is that Canna nutrients don’t seem to provide all the plant micronutrients, yet growers still achieve good results. It’s possible that available data doesn’t provide a clear picture of those elements’ concentration, however. Still, Miracle-Gro actually provides more micronutrients than Canna (if the data is correct).
Also, I didn’t look into the other heavy metals. Cadmium and nickel sound dangerous!

The following charts are from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (Reference #7).

DOWN TO EARTH –AZOMITE(Reference #8)

CANNA BIO VEGA 3-1-5(Reference #9)

DYNA-GRO FOLIAGE PRO 9-3-6(Reference #10)

CANNA COCO A 4-0-1(Reference #11)

CANNA COCO B 1-4-2(Reference #12)

MIRACLE-GRO WATER SOLUBLE ALL PURPOSE

PLANT FOOD 24-8-16(Reference #13)

Links to References (Bibliography):

Jmystroon March 16, 2017 at 3:31 pm
See Also
When to Feed Your Plants Safe Miracle-Gro® Alternative Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble Plant Food 20-20-20 Over-Fertilization of Potted Plants
Here ya go Beast In The East. I thought Frazetta’s Death Dealer was appropriate art. Thanks for putting this together and emailing it to me. I haven’t seen these charts in a few years.
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beast_in_the_easton March 16, 2017 at 9:08 pm
I love me some Frazetta man, so cool it’s my post background! I visited the Frazetta museum during my travels a few years ago and met his son – really nice and down to earth guy and just talked with me for hours about his father’s art. You made my post look awesome. Thanks Jmystro.
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FrostyGreen420on March 16, 2017 at 9:24 pm
Great post man!!! Thank you
See Also
Does Plant Food Expire?
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SOUPon March 16, 2017 at 10:06 pm
Great post thanks!
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Jmystroon March 17, 2017 at 11:53 am
8 year old mystro thought Frank was a freak of nature. My option hasn’t changed. I was considered some “art prodigy” myself at that age by family, friends and teachers. It’s where the name maestro comes from btw. Has nothin to do with plants. 😉 My life’s goal at that young age was to emulate him. He was doing pen and ink in the 50’s at least 30 years ahead of his time. The sh*t he did in the 60’s and 70’s set the standard for me. His oil paintings were just the cherry on top. As a teenager I felt I could come close to his drawing abilities but when it came to his imagination and ability to imply as much detail as actual detail in his paintings, I new he was just special, and is what separated himself from everyone else. He drew and painted from memory and finished masterpieces in one sitting.
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beast_in_the_easton March 17, 2017 at 9:37 pm
Lets see some of your art Mystro! That’s so cool to have artistic ability man. What you said about his paintings being done in one sitting and from memory is what Frank Jr said. He mentioned it was like watching him trace the lines that were already there on the canvas. And the little stuff in Franks paintings are awesome, like when he painted a tiger the face would have such awesome detail, but then other parts would have low level detail, but I didn’t matter because of the feeling and colors and movement in the painting. Another cool thing Frank Jr said is that his dad liked nothing better than to play baseball on his land, and he was more focused on that than his art.
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- Jmystroon March 17, 2017 at 9:57 pm
  Showing my art is like showing my face. Sorry bro. When you have to work incredibly hard at something to be proficient like sports, you’ll always consider yourself that first. True skill comes without effort and can easily be taken for granted. So I can relate to that. I mix my artistic perspective with my work ethic to be the grower I am.
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Dawsonon May 20, 2017 at 5:20 pm
J Mystro your a beast. Nuff said
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Heavy Metals In Perspective | Dude Grows Archive (2024)

FAQs

Does Miracle-Gro contain heavy metals? ›

Miracle-Gro contains 0.15 ppm Lead. In comparison, vegetables grown in areas not exposed to industrial pollution contain zero to 0.26 mg of lead per pound (Reference #14), while a liter of Miracle-Gro Powder contains 0.15 mg. Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro contains 2.5 mg per liter, which is 16 times higher than Miracle-Gro.

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Does azomite contain heavy metals? ›

Does AZOMITE® contain heavy metals? Yes, but in lesser amounts than exist in a typical soil sample. Chemically, AZOMITE® is a hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS), which carries a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) classification.

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What is the effect of heavy metals on plant growth an overview? ›

They are more toxic to plants and human beings, as they mix with soil, they cause retardation in plant growth, reduce the nutritive value, affect photosynthesis, and also heavy metals pose harmful effects on human beings.

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Do edibles have heavy metals in them? ›

Conclusions: Low-level contamination of edible CBD products with heavy metals and phthalates is pervasive.

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What is one reason not to use Miracle-Gro? ›

MG is so strong that if used incorrectly, the fertilizer will actually burn the leaves and roots of your plants (you may have already experienced this). Imagine what it's doing to the healthy bacteria, fungi and other soil microbes that are working so hard to provide the nutrients your plants need.

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What are the bad chemicals in Miracle Grow? ›

Harmful to Human Health

The primary ingredients in synthetic fertilizers like Miracle-Gro are urea nitrogen and ammonium sulfate. When exposed to the air, these compounds can create a greenhouse gas that damages human lungs. Nitrogen can build up in the human body when it isn't detoxified fast enough by the liver.

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Does organic soil have heavy metals? ›

Fertilizers, including organic and inorganic elements, are responsible for producing heavy metals in the soil.

How do plants remove heavy metals? ›

Phytovolatilization. Phytovolatilization refers to the use of plants to absorb heavy metal pollutants and transform them into volatile, less hazardous chemical species via transpiration. Some of the heavy metals, such as, Hg, and Se, may exist in the environment as gaseous species (Chandra et al., 2015).

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Does heavy metal make plants grow faster? ›

For most plants playing classical or jazz music caused growth to increase, while harsher metal music induced stress. This may be because the vibrations of metal music are too intense for plants and stimulate cells a little too much.

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What food has the most heavy metals? ›

Research shows that certain foods, like rice and fish, can be more likely to contain heavy metals. To help enjoy these foods safely, consider occasionally swapping rice for alternatives like quinoa, bulgur, couscous or cauliflower rice, and choose fish with lower mercury levels, such as salmon or sardines.

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Does CBD have heavy metals? ›

Low levels of lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium are frequently present in commercially-available CBD products, a new study has found.

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Which fertilizers contain heavy metals? ›

Analytical testing of a wide range of fertilizer products shows that some phosphate and micronutrient fertilizers, and liming materials contain elevated levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead compared to other fertilizer types (e.g., nitrogen, potash, gypsum).

Does Miracle-Gro soil have lead? ›

I went to three stores and bought six popular brands of bagged soil labeled for fruits and vegetables -- Miracle-Gro, SuperSoil, EarthGro, Kellogg, Sun Land and E.B. Stone -- and sent samples of each to two labs to corroborate the results. The findings: None of the soils contained toxic levels of lead, zinc or arsenic.

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What chemical is in Miracle Grow? ›

Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Fertilizer includes a high concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are three nutrients found in all fertilizers to assist with plant growth and development. To avoid high toxicity levels, ammonium has been added to this plant food.

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What is a natural alternative to Miracle-Gro? ›

When you utilize organic fertilizers, made of natural materials such as; compost, worm castings, animal waste and fish emulsion, you are feeding the soil which in turn, feeds the plants.