Aluminum toxicity?

To keep the Bermuda grass out of my vegetable garden beds, I came up with the idea of using metal flashing as a physical barrier. The cheapest and most bendable was made of aluminum. I actually paid someone to dig a trench all along one side and bury the 16 or 20 inch flashing. It did work, but now I'm thinking it might put aluminum into the plants, which I EAT! The soil there is about neutral. Does anyone know something about this?

kabocha

I did the same thing to keep bamboo and raspberries from spreading into the garden. According to the government, little aluminum is absorbed by plants and animals and there doesn't seem to be any adverse side affects except: "Some studies show that people exposed to high levels of aluminum may develop Alzheimer’s disease, but other studies have not found this to be true. We do not know for certain whether aluminum causes Alzheimer’s disease."

For more informtion, here's a link: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts22.html#top

And more links: http://www.google.com/search?q=aluminum+soil+toxicity&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8

IF the aluminum migrates into the soil it probably would only be in the direct vicinty of the flashing... if you are concerned, perhaps planting some ornamental non food type plants (flowering perennials) next to the flashing and minimize soil disturbance along the edges...

I think you'd be surprised at how much aluminum you ingest already! It is a ingredient in a lot of daily supplements. I've read it can be bad for your brain in excessive quantities, but it also helps with issues of the stomach and breaks up excess phosphate in your system that can lead to kidney stones.
So that can be good news!

Goodness, the sky is falling ........again

Besides, you'd need a pretty strong acid or alkaline to get the soil reacting with the metal. And since you indicate the soil is fairly neutral, you're most likely safe.

Well, thanks, everybody. I guess I won't worry about it.

kabocha

I am a republican (not a health nut) and I don't even cook with aluminum. I suspect all of our cooking, cans, and here in Montana water is all filled with Aluminum. I would use rock work to border the garden. All metals accumulate in the body and the brain and liver is the most affected.

I was thinking along the lines that we consume enough aluminum already, and I wouldn't want to increase the potential for aluminum consumption from the garden.

I located 2 other types of flashing. One says it is vinyl; the other says it is made of PVC - "extruded plastic polymers" - maybe that is the same thing. What does vinyl do in the soil? I would love to use rocks, of which I have plenty, but they definitely do not keep out Bermuda grass. It will even poke holes in heavy black plastic. If I don't use a really strong , deep barrier I won't have a garden, just Bermuda grass!

PVC is inert. It doesn't affect drinking water, so it will be ok in a garden. The gases from the manufacture of vinyl chlorides are another story

pvc is a vinyl chloride... Poly Vinyl Chloride... though if buried it is inert, when exposed to sunlight it degrades.

Yes, vinyl chloride is used to make poly vinyl chloride. Oxy Chem had a big plant here until last year, it was none too fragrant. Actually it's pretty neat stuff once it's made...if you can find sheets of it you could use it to contain bamboo. It comes in a bunch of colors, 1/4" and thicker, 4'x8'. I bet it's real expensive, though.

What about concrete? I don't think it has any deleterious effects on humans. You can take those rocks and put them together with concrete or just make a little trench and fill it with concrete so the roots can't get through. Concrete is really cheap, but it does make a mess and the mess can become permanent. Still it has been used since ancient times and it isn't toxic.

There you go... just some potential alkalinity issues. I suppose you could use that to advantage in some situations. Or use plastic to shield it from acid loving plants? I wonder how long condrete would leach alkali.

You know me and rocks but if you used a pond liner and buried the liner under the rocks and back filled you shouldn't have much problem. I don't use the pond liner and no grass can get into my raised beds because I use a buried flat surfaced rock horizontally next to the grass and then bury the raised bed rocks about 4 to 6 inches down and back fill. Then when the grass starts to move into the space around the horizontal rock I zap it with round up. This I do about once or twice a summer.

Thanks for all the ideas. I like the concrete idea, about digging a trench and pouring it in. Trouble is, I don't think I could ever dig a 20" deep trench for a total of 200-300 feet and mix and pour cement in it. Maybe I could do it little by little....You'd have to see what Bermuda grass can do in soil that is both sandy and very fertile to know what I am up against. I have a friend that flies over my land in her plane sometimes. She says that from the air my garden looks like a Bermuda grass ranch.

LOL, I am betting they don't have Burmuda in Montana. I love rocks and think they are preferable in most cases but Soferdig, you can't begin to imagine what an evil grass this is. It comes up in the middle of my blacktop driveway and I don't even have Burmuda on my property, it gets here from an open area across the road. I have also heard stories, that I don't doubt, that say it can grow through concrete. If there was a seam in those rock walls it would find in in about 10 days, tops.

Ardesia -

You know it!

kabocha