whoever is running those GC meters could run a test for heavy metals, all it would take is a request. They also use GC meters to test THC and CBD levels.
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Heavy Metals in Fertilizers
- Thread starter BerndV
- Start date
I just hung out with the guys from Full Spectrum Labs, I will ask them next time I see them to see if they can test for residual heavy metals in buds.
Organic soil, especially Fox Farm, is very high in heavy metals, including Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Mercury, and Boron. Organic supplements such as Guano have also tested very high in Cadmium. All sea kelp has been found to contain high amounts of Mercury and Cadmium. I don't know who said it best, but yes, we've fucked the world up. Heavy metals are everywhere, in our earth, in our water, in our air, etc!
I think the lesson to be learned is: use clean nutes and/or medium whenever possible, but also a long flush! Not 2-3 days, I mean AT LEAST 7-10 days, if not more! I'm thinking that my 10 week strains will be getting a 3 week flush from now on! Doesn't matter if you are soil or hydro, synthetic or organic, heavy metals exist everywhere, so unless you can grow weed with your own pee and poop (which probably also contain more heavy metals than you think), you are exposing your plants to these compounds irregardless of your choice of brand!
Organic soil, especially Fox Farm, is very high in heavy metals, including Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Mercury, and Boron. Organic supplements such as Guano have also tested very high in Cadmium. All sea kelp has been found to contain high amounts of Mercury and Cadmium. I don't know who said it best, but yes, we've fucked the world up. Heavy metals are everywhere, in our earth, in our water, in our air, etc!
I think the lesson to be learned is: use clean nutes and/or medium whenever possible, but also a long flush! Not 2-3 days, I mean AT LEAST 7-10 days, if not more! I'm thinking that my 10 week strains will be getting a 3 week flush from now on! Doesn't matter if you are soil or hydro, synthetic or organic, heavy metals exist everywhere, so unless you can grow weed with your own pee and poop (which probably also contain more heavy metals than you think), you are exposing your plants to these compounds irregardless of your choice of brand!
Here is a good article that puts some science into the bullshit that Advanced Nutrients pushes:
http://www.integralhydro.com/advancednutrients.html
http://www.integralhydro.com/advancednutrients.html
Wazup frzguy.. All these spec numbers are from using there recomended amount of ferts, I have always used 1/3 rd the dosage and still grow great shit .. so that must mean I am only geting a 1/3 rd of the toxins we are talking about... believe me I dont trust the FDA and all there scientist studies about carcinogens and do all I can for 100% organic vegetables and herbs.. But I live in reality nothing is pure anymore..
deidree barlow
Member
commercial
commercial
commercial
Many Commercial growers use vast amounts of heavy metals you can choose colour of your bud with metal iron orange copper purple etc just by adding a heavy metal i like my gear like my water pure deidree barlow
Hey 420mt, yeah I agree with ya.. Sometimes I wonder how many of those heavy metals even make it to the bud, not many I'm sure.
Ioni Botani
Member
Dunno if anybody has caught this one, after seeing SelfHemployed saying he used BioBizz, I looked that one up....they are all good!
BioBizz AEROSTAR GLOBAL LOGISTICS
BioBizz AEROSTAR GLOBAL LOGISTICS
BerndV
Member
I'm not sure that flushing will ameliorate any heavy metal concentration in the buds. On the contrary, it may exacerbate the problem because heavy metals are known to accumulate in the leaves. During flushing, the plant no longer has access to the nutrients it needs in the growing medium. Mobile nutrients are then trans-located from the leaves to the developing buds. The question when it comes to flushing is to what extent any of the accumulated heavy metals trans-locate from the leaves and roots. I'm not sure if that has ever been studied.
In my opinion, the best solution is prevention, namely using nutes and mediums that have no measurable heavy metal content.
I am currently running H&G and I am in touch with the guys from Full Spectrum. They told me they don't test for all heavy metals, but they do have tests for Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury, probably the most dangerous of all the heavy metals found in nutes, with the exception of Arsenic. I do a long 2 week flush, and I will get my stuff tested for heavy metals (among other things). I'll post the test results to let you know how it went down!
To put this in perspective the amount of heavy metals one would ingest from smoking marijuana is likely far lower than from the food we eat. Pick a heavy metal at 5ppm, that is .000005 grams per gram assuming your plant is in essence exactly what you fertilized it with, i.e. the bud is "made" out of fertilizer.
In reality the plant is also constructed out of air via chemical reactions taking place via light. So the .000005g per gram number is liberally calculated.
The nrdc considers Mercury levels of .3ppm to be high in fish. On the surface this appears worrisome compared to 5ppm in some nutes, but consider the weight ingested. Its easy to consume eight oz of fish in a sitting, possibly several times a day. Eight oz of pot would be a little tougher to take down a couple times a day.
Being devils advocate, I'm actually running canna so way to go me
and heavy metals should be avoided like the plague..but pot isn't what I'd worry about causing toxicity. Think about all the products made from over fertilized corn..that should keep us up at night.
In reality the plant is also constructed out of air via chemical reactions taking place via light. So the .000005g per gram number is liberally calculated.
The nrdc considers Mercury levels of .3ppm to be high in fish. On the surface this appears worrisome compared to 5ppm in some nutes, but consider the weight ingested. Its easy to consume eight oz of fish in a sitting, possibly several times a day. Eight oz of pot would be a little tougher to take down a couple times a day.
Being devils advocate, I'm actually running canna so way to go me
and heavy metals should be avoided like the plague..but pot isn't what I'd worry about causing toxicity. Think about all the products made from over fertilized corn..that should keep us up at night.
This is only the 1st part of the flush! I do a 2 week flush, and yes the leaves flush first, moving nutrients to the buds, but after a while, your buds flush also, that is my goal at least. I try to get all the potassium and phosphorus out of my buds to they burn smooth with white/grey ash. If most of the heavy metals and impurities travel with the same mobility as P and K, then my buds should be decently clean!
I recently read an article on the Washington Ag site about heavy metals and their accumulations in plant matter. I have traditionally looked to their listings of ferts to know the heavy metal content. What the studies discussed in this article showed, is that very little of the heavy metals in a growing medium are actually mobile in plants. They loaded up a couple of soil types with Lead, Arsenic, Cad and others and found virtually no increase in the metal content in the plant tissues. Cadnium was the most concerning and most mobile, but the concentrations were way too small to be a concern.
Where it appears that this should be a concern, is when consuming animals at the top of the food chain. However plant matter seemed to exhibit little metals even when their growing medium was intentionally polluted......
Just a thought.
Where it appears that this should be a concern, is when consuming animals at the top of the food chain. However plant matter seemed to exhibit little metals even when their growing medium was intentionally polluted......
Just a thought.
i believe cannabis has an affinity towards metals. why did the russian government specifically plant cannabis to absorb the metals/chemicals from the chernobyl accident?
where do the metals go once marijuana absorb them? does the plant's metabolism convert them to something else? or does the plant eats and then shits them back into the soil/medium?
where do the metals go once marijuana absorb them? does the plant's metabolism convert them to something else? or does the plant eats and then shits them back into the soil/medium?
plants fertilize themselves...quick patent that shit.
P
Purple Monster
isnt there heavy metals in most water we drink? heavy metals in protein shakes? corn based foods? high ambient air concentrations near emission sources?
jus saying, most people are exposed to heavy metals in some capacity..
I cant wait to smoke my maxibloom nugs.
Thanks for sharing though, interesting.
jus saying, most people are exposed to heavy metals in some capacity..
I cant wait to smoke my maxibloom nugs.
Thanks for sharing though, interesting.
Dilution is the solution to pollution.
BerndV
Member
That depends on the plant. Unfortunately, heavy metals are more available to cannabis than almost any other plant. Combine that with the typical methods of ingestion and the fact that they accumulate in the body and I believe it represents a genuine cause for concern.
