Free Garden Catalogs

Will plants absorb chemicals from roof top runoff?

I am researching rainwater collections. Some ares I have read about not drinking or cooking with rainwater because it has not been treated, but I wondered about watering edible gardens. Will any toxins from roof run off absorb into the edible plants in a manner that could be harmful upon human consumption?

Public Comments

1. sorta slightly
2. It is possible . We know that rain washes the air and so rain water contains sir pollution. Running over the tar and other roof top materials could dissolve some chemicals, even though petroleum products do not dissolve in water. We know that potatoes will absorb salt from areas that have had saltwater over them. We know that human pathogens can be transferred from using human waste on fields. We know that they do not use effluent from sewage treatment on gardens with edible plants. We know that where they have used sewage sludge on playing fields that there have been some skin reactions. [This is from city sewage sludge that possibly had heavy metal contamination] We know that many people prefer "organic" fertilized foods over "chemical" fertilizer. We hope that insecticides and pesticides used on foods come off when washed. It sounds like a good topic for research.