Is Milorganite Safe?

[kevreh]

I have read nothing but good things here about Milorganite, so I was a bit taken back by a comment that a Lesco dealer just made to me. I was there for other reasons, but the Milorganite topic came up and he told me to "be very careful" how much I apply. He went on about all the "heavy metals" that leech into the product from the pipes in Milwaukee. He really made me feel a bit uneasy out using it even at all with three kids around. Went on to say to be careful handling it.

He also did give me the impression that he does not cary it, but did offer "two similar products without the heavy metals". Have to admit, I am a bit skeptical having read everything on here. Can anyone ease my nerves a bit about this guys toughts? Do any of his comments have merit?

Thanks.

Very interesting. BTW, yeah I know this thread is ancient by internet terms. But I was in my local Site One and got the same thing from the manager who is usually very knowledgable. Makes me wonder if Lesco or Site One is putting a "hit out" on Milo because they a) really believe this, or b) view it as threatening sales from their other products. Same manager pointed out that the lawn pro's don't use it for the whole safety reason (heavy metals and all). Who knows, maybe this is confirmation bias.

Personally I think pros tend to use more specialty products from companies you can't pickup product from at your local home center. I've chatted with people from the "quality" lawn care companies who take care of neighbors yards and their always using some "private label".

[turf_toes]

I highly doubt Site one has some sort of corporate grudge against Milo. In fact, if I recall, they sell the greens grade Milo (it has smaller prills)

It’s more likely you ran into an employee who has his or her own opinion.

As far as fertilizer goes. Labels, private or otherwise, don’t matter. N-P-K matters (and the amount of fast and slow release nitrogen). Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

"heavy metals"? Is he thinking about Ironite?

Ironite is generally accepted to have trace amounts of heavy metals.

[turf_toes]

Milo has trace amounts of heavy metals. But so does just about every fertilizer on the market, organic and synthetic.

There’s nothing new about that. The link below (about heavy metals in wheat grain) is almost as old as this thread (2011)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 9411009393

Your tap water has trace amounts too.

We are talking about minuscule levels far below what is considered dangerous by the government. With Milo, it doesn’t come from the pipes in Milwaukee either. It comes from being a product of human waste.

That’s right, your crap has heavy metals. Run for the hills!

This abstract is worth a read:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. ... 8508710225

[kevreh]

Thanks for those links turf toes. I generally agree that people are probably overstating the metals thing. Btw, I’m pretty sure the multivitamin I take has certain metals including zinc, iron, ....

HLG, I think you have a point in that ironite is far more sketchy with the arsenic and other stuff Gary posted on the previous page. Maybe the Site One manager is conflating the two.