Talk about the Great Pumpkin charlie brown!

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Pumpkins found to absorb pesticides from soil

 

Pumpkins are not only good for jack-o'-lanterns, pie, and carrying

Cinderella home -- they are also extremely effective at drawing

persistent organic pollutants like the toxic pesticide DDT out of

soil, according to a new study by Canadian researchers. They tested

rye grass, tall fescue, alfalfa, zucchini, and pumpkins, but the

oddly Halloween-specific orange gourd won by a large margin. While

the Canucks acknowledged that phytoremediation -- the use of plants

to clean contaminated sites -- will never fully replace more

high-tech methods, they suggest that it offers a " green solution "

that may work well in communities and countries where such technology

is not available. Obviously, DDT-ridden pumpkins would not be used

for pies or jack-o'-lanterns (unless some sicko just wasn't satisfied

with razors in apples). Rather, they would be buried or incinerated.

 

straight to the source: The Kitsap Sun, Lee Bowman, 22 Oct 2004

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