Silica sand

From: Susan Farrington (sfarrington@ridgway.mobot.org)
Date: Wed Jan 26 2000 - 05:31:04 PST


Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 07:31:04 -0600
From: "Susan Farrington" <sfarrington@ridgway.mobot.org>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg240$foo@default>
Subject: Silica sand

I went to my local Home Depot yesterday to buy a couple of bags of
white silica sandblasting sand for potting up a bunch of carnivorous
plants, and was told that Home Depot no longer carries the stuff, as it
causes cancer! I know, of course, that the stuff is dangerous when one
is sandblasting with it, and that if you're dumb enough not to use
proper protection when blasting, it will get into your lungs and
certainly mess you up big time. But many things are dangerous if used
incorrectly! And ALL sand is silica in it... the white stuff is just more
pure. So shall they eliminate play sand, too, as dangerous?

I started to panic anyway, wondering what I will use to pot my cp's if
silica sand disappears off the market, but fortunately I found the same
brand of sand at a local lumber store. I asked them if they'd heard
anything about it being banned, and they said no, that probably Home
Depot just doesn't want to carry it. I guess it's one more result of our
litigious society!

Anyone else know anything about this?

Susan Farrington
Missouri Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 299
St. Louis MO 63166-0299
susan.farrington@mobot.org
(314)577-9402



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