Just had high praise...

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muntjac

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Just had high praise...
« Reply #15 on: March 28, 2007, 11:49 »
and its only carcogenic when its burnt folks so stop panicking ..... survival skills instructor  hat on :wink:
Bracken foliage, when green, is high in potash, often freely available and makes an excellent compost ingredient.

There has been concern about possible human health risks associated with using bracken. It does contain several toxic, and possibly carcinogenic, substances that have been shown to cause problems in grazing animals. Most recently, reports in the media have suggested that inhaling bracken spores may cause cancer.

What are the facts?
We have contacted scientists working in this area and have been assured that any risks to humans are extremely small, and that there is no conclusive evidence of human health problems due to handling or close contact with bracken. Of course, it is poisonous, and eating it would not be a good idea!

Publicity on this issue has sometimes exaggerated the dangers and has been unnecessarily alarmist on the subject. Having said this, however, we do believe that it is important for people to be aware of the risks, however small, so that if they choose to use bracken they can do so in the safest possible way.

Are there any risks from bracken toxins in compost?
It is highly unlikely that composted bracken used on the garden is in any way dangerous to human health. No work has been done on the survival of toxic substances from bracken during composting but it is most probable that they are readily broken down by micro-organisms as part of the composting process. Even if this breakdown was not complete, plants are not likely to take up such substances from the soil, so they would not pass into food crops.

What is the danger from bracken spores?
The spores of bracken are carcinogenic. Work done with mice has indicated that, taken into the body, they can induce stomach cancer. This is not conclusive evidence of a serious risk to humans who inhale spores, but it does suggest a need for caution.

We would suggest that anyone collecting or handling bracken should avoid doing so when plants are producing spores, or that they wear a simple face mask (the type builders wear to exclude fine dust) if spores are present.

Avoiding sporulating plants should not normally be difficult - bracken rarely produces any spores under British weather conditions and it is only exceptionally hot dry summers that trigger large scale spore release. When such conditions occur, huge numbers of spores are released intermittently between July and September; the timing of this will vary in different localities depending on precise conditions, but there are likely to be 2 or 3 'danger' periods during a hot summer.

Unless there is a major shift in our weather patterns and we regularly have hot, dry summers, bracken spores should only be an occasional problem for the keen composter!

How to tell when there is a risk from high spore levels?
If in future years summer weather is hot and dry and you are worried about possible dangers, contact your local Ministry of Agriculture office; they should have information about current and predicted bracken spore levels. To identify a spore-producing plant, look for small brown structures on the underside of the fronds, around their fringes. If spores are mature and being released they will appear as a brown smear on hands or clothes when leaves are touched
burning releases spores and they float freely and can be ingested when breathing

courtesy RHS
still alive /............


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