Can I Compost Plant Material Treated with Herbicides & Pesticides?
Herbicides and pesticides intended for residential use generally have short residence times. Broad leaf herbicides do not affect grass plants and the residues are either washed away by rain or watering or are oxidized or broken down by ultraviolet light. Residential pesticides residues also have short residence times and are subject to environmental degradation by air, sunlight and heat. Documentation in the literature from large scale yard waste composting operations indicate that most herbicide and pesticide residues will be volatilized through the heat of composting. The residual toxicity of any remaining compounds will also be significantly reduced due to them being tightly bound to the organic matter present. Even given the above, the conservative procedure would be to not compost with herbicide or pesticide treated plant material. This means clippings from the first few lawn cuttings after a herbicide is applies are not placed in the compost pile. It also means that composted pes
