You can safely grow plants in a variety of containers as long.
Food safe gutter.
Gutter oil or illicit cooking oil that has been recycled from waste oil collected from restaurant fryers drains grease traps and slaughterhouse waste from table to table has emerged as a serious food safety issue in china and exposed the shortcomings of china s food safety assurance systems.
The sources of this oil are restaurant fryers sewers and leftover or used oil that is sold.
Even xinhua the government s news agency called gutter oil the most nerve jittery problem of late concerning food safety and one that showed a really nasty reality of chinese food.
Grow shallow root plants such as radish spinach and strawberries.
All plastics can leach toxic substances to some degree given the right conditions there are however safer plastics than others.
Based on all the research papers i ve read i believe it s clear pvc is a toxic material that has no place in an organic garden or anywhere.
Safe containers for organic gardening.
But is it safe to use around food plants.
We always recommend checking with the manufacturer about the food safe status.
Pvc plastic leaches toxic chemicals.
Zinc is not considered a food safe material and it is recommended to avoid contact between food and galvanized surfaces because acidic foods can dissolve zinc.
My best suggestion is to use food grade or food safe materials for all surfaces that come in contact with the plants and the hydroponic solution.
You also need to consider that whilst metals do leach if you preserve the gutters with some form of chemical paint or other coating this too may contribute to the problem of food.
Organic gardening is an environmentally safe way to grow fruits vegetables and other plants.
The types of rain gutter most often used for gutter gardening are made of vinyl or aluminum.
Food safety incidents in 2014 gutter oil scandal.
Gutter oil or illicit cooking oil that has been recycled from waste oil collected from restaurant fryers drains grease traps and slaughterhouse waste from table to table has emerged as a serious food safety issue in china and exposed the shortcomings of china s food safety assurance systems.
Non food grade plastics can be used for drains or other non contact surfaces.