"Bob F" writes:

Boron Elgar wrote:
These comments about "polluted" municipal compost are indeed food
for thought and I will ask the City about the issue. But I wonder
whether treating yard waste at the high temperatures they say
wouldn't be enough to "kill" or neutralize the bad things cited on
this thread.


You need a certain sustaining of temp to encourage decomposition but
not so hot that you kill off the good microorganisms, but I have never
seen anything that says composting destroys garden chems. I am happy
to read any articles about it, though.

Seattle and LA apparently had problems with one chemical.
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/dec/27/local/me-18323

Thanks, for a very interesting article.

For those that don't follow links, this should be of interest:

Unlike Clopyralid, which survives the heat, most chemicals used in
lawn care and agriculture break down completely enough to satisfy
organic farmers.

I found this on Clopyralid, the problem chemical:

Clopyralid is known for its ability to persist in dead plants and
compost, and has accumulated to phytotoxic levels in finished compost
in a few highly publicized cases. This first came to light in
Washington State when, during 2000 and 2001, residues of clopyralid
were detected in commercial compost, and compost made at a municipal
site damaged tomatoes and other garden plants planted in it. Word
quickly spread to other local and state governments and in 2002,
DowAgro, the manufacturer of clopyralid, voluntarily deregistered it
for use on domestic lawns in the US[5] and it is banned in several US
states but it is found in consumer products in Europe such as Scotts
Verdone Extra and Vitax Lawn Clear 2.

--
Dan Espen