Q. Is Ironite safe to use
in a vegetable garden? I have read somewhere that it’s not, but the label says
you can use it.
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| The Ironite sold years ago is not the same product as it is now. |
A. The current Ironite
products are totally different from the original Ironite product but carry the
same name. Ironite was, and still is, a soil amendment/fertilizer used for
correcting yellowing plants growing in alkaline soil. The original Ironite
product did two things; it lowered the soil pH and added iron to the soil. It
created a very good name for itself in the landscape and golf industry.
The original Ironite product came from recycled mine
tailings. These tailings also contained heavy metals; lead and arsenic being
the two that got Ironite into trouble. There was a long controversy regarding
whether the lead and arsenic were problematic for food crops.
The Ironite label was changed to exclude applications to
food crops to circumvent this problem. The old product came to an end when the
mine supplying tailings used by Ironite was declared an EPA Superfund site in
about 2005 and closed.
Ironite is now owned by Central Garden & Pet Company,
through its subsidiary, Pennington. It is a totally different product from the
Superfund site days but carries the same name. Because of its industry
reputation, a line of products carrying the Ironite name has evolved.
So, in a nutshell, Ironite is not the same product as it
was years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency allows the label to include application
to food crops.
Original article from Dallas Morning News on Ironite from the Dirt Doctor
