Martin wrote:
Did you know that it was/is normal to dump coal fire ash on UK gardens
and as a result some gardens are full of heavy metals and other
nasties? There was a scare in York recently when somebody had their
garden soil analysed.
http://www.york.gov.uk/cgi-bin/wn_document.pl?type=7214
"Patrick Scott, director of Learning, Culture and Children's Services,
at the council, said: "Finding higher than average concentrations of
certain heavy metals in old gardens and allotments is quite common
because people used to use ash from fires as a fertiliser. The school
playing field is on the site of an old waste tip, which may also
result in higher levels of some substances."

Blimey .... their 'Advice' at the end of the page is frightening. But
then again, gardens are dangerous places, plants are poisonnous etc. I
got poisonned once and I'm more careful now. I am however wondering why
the levels of lead and arsenic were so high in the past, say in the
1900s, than now. Do you know? Would the level be the same from the
ashes of my annual bonfire in the Autumn, entirely made up of my garden
pruned materials?