Safety of Using Newsprint for Gardening

[PNW_D]

Seems it is not just the ink, but the chemicals used to process the newsprint, that are bad news for organic gardens ......

I'm a newbie at a nearby organic community garden, offering my knowledge on growing tomatoes in containers. When I suggested using newspapers to help with weed control, this new to me concern was mentioned ...... thought it worth a mention here .........

Here's a related article. Anyone have more info on this topic?

Here's the link:
http://www.valleyreporter.com/index....2458&Itemid=60

VR questions safety of using newsprint for gardening
Written by Lisa Loomis
Jun 18, 2009 at 12:00 AM
06/18/2009

By Lisa Loomis

With the increasing popularity of home vegetable gardening and the Mad River Localvores offering a variety of gardening workshops that call for using newspapers as a weed-deterring bedding material, many gardeners have been requesting old issues of The Valley Reporter for that purpose.

Jeff Knight, director of sales and advertising at The Valley Reporter, contacted Upper Valley Press, where The Valley Reporter is printed.

GARDEN USE

"I just spoke with the press and was informed that the color ink is soy based but the black ink is still petroleum based. Also the fountain solution that is used to wash/condition the paper to prepare the paper for the ink is highly chemically treated and the press does not recommend the use of printed papers for garden use," Knight reported.

That information was provided to Localvore founder Robin McDermott who approached the Vermont chapter of the National Organic Farming Association (NOFA-VT).

Wendy Sue Harper from NOFA-VT reported that soy-based inks are okay for gardening but that petroleum oils are used in the dyes for colors and can be benzene/carbon based.

AVOID COLORED INK

"So people have suggested gardeners avoid colored inks and glossy print because these are more highly processed. I have not heard anyone say gardeners should avoid black-and-white newspaper. So this is news to me. The whole process of making wood fiber into paper does use a lot of chemicals to break down fibers. If the paper's press says not to use it, I guess I would not use it," Harper wrote in an email.

"Just to clarify some of Wendy Sue's points, in regards to what is allowed by the National Organic Program Rule, newspaper or other recycled paper without glossy or colored ink is allowed for compost feedstock and mulch. So that's where things stand in terms of the organic regulations," said Nicole Dehne, certification administrator for NOFA-VT.

Harper provided additional information about the process of newsprint breaking down when used for composting.

BREAKING DOWN

"When I was at the university, my composting class composted ground-up glossy soy-ink Gardener's Supply Catalogs with manure to test for PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon) -- bad stuff leftover from breaking down synthetic chemicals. Will Brinton's lab, Woods End Lab, in Maine did the testing. We tested two times and found only traces just about detection. This shows the power of microbes as we were composted in a bitter cold February through mid-April -- not the easiest or best for the breakdown process," Harper said.

CARBON COMPOUNDS

"Woods End Lab has tested hundreds of compounds in composting and found very few that do not breakdown. Clopyralid is one, but it is restricted use now. It caused the problems at a compost project in Washington state when it was allowed in home lawn products. Many carbon compounds (pesticides, antibiotics, petroleum products, etc.) break down in soil; soil is used for bioremediation. Metalions (Mg, Fe, Co) stick around as does plastic," she continued.

Harper referred McDermott to a 1992 paper entitled "1992 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in Newsprint Bedding: Compostability and Health Risk." It was co-authored by J. Collinson of the Maine Waste Management Agency in Augusta, Maine, and details the breakdown of chemicals in newsprint during composting.

That paper has been ordered and further information will be forthcoming.

[roxtar]

Thanks for posting. I was just getting ready to lay down about 40 issues of the Wall Street Journal and our local paper as mulch.

Guess I'll just do like I did last year and go to my city yard waste collection site and pick up a truckload of their free mulch.

[habitat_gardener]

Depends on the newspaper. Call your local paper to find out if their inks are soy- or petroleum-based.

[dustdevil]

It used to be that newspapers would give away the end roll with some paper left on it for free. If they still do, that would eliminate the ink issue.

[PNW_D]

It's not the ink, but the paper itself that is of concern ....

Also the fountain solution that is used to wash/condition the paper to prepare the paper for the ink is highly chemically treated and the press does not recommend the use of printed papers for garden use

[dustdevil]

D, I need to read more carefully late at night. I never used newspaper for mulch, so I have no regrets.

[wingnut]

I use newspaper as mulch then cover with rabbit poo to hold it in place. I will continue to do so. I would say the risk of soil/personal health problems from this practice are nil.

[fortyonenorth]

I'm sure that inks and paper vary from paper to paper, but this is really good information to have - thanks for posting.

[ireilly]

The bleaching process that is used to make paper used to produce small amounts of dioxin. They continue to try to improve the bleaching process.

The only thing I'll tell you is that nightcrawlers love the stuff. I put in into a bed and wait 6 months and the bed is full of them.

[tomakers]

Originally Posted by ireilly

The only thing I'll tell you is that nightcrawlers love the stuff. I put in into a bed and wait 6 months and the bed is full of them.

I have used it for pots for quite a few years, and I can confirm that the worms love it. There is never a trace of the cast off pots at the end of the season, if they're buried.
JMO,
Tom

[stormymater]

I'd venture more dioxins are in cold water fish & fish oil supplements than what one would ultimately eat from newspaper mulched vegetables... just sayin'... rather newsprint than any more aminopyralid in my gardens EVER!

[kevinrs]

For the safety of the workers at the newspaper the ink was regulated. They are exposed to thousands of times more than you would be even if you built your whole garden on newsprint. You could use newsprint in your compost and worm beds, pots which you then bury, till in shredded to improve drainage, and use inches as mulch, and not get anything close by eating the plants that the workers get when making the newspaper. The regulations have been to make these highly exposed workers safe.
The newspaper printers are going to say they do not recommend use in gardens to cover themselves in any future liability. It could be that someday someone sues them even for cellulose(wood pulp) powder being inhaled and causing cancer. I noticed that the lumber aisles now have prop 65 signage about sawdust causing cancer.