Knowledgebase
Garden Railroad Ties #869217
Asked May 20, 2024, 10:41 AM EDT
Hello,
I am writing to ask what we should do about the railroad ties around our garden bed and whether we can test for toxicity levels in the soil. The garden came with the house when we moved in five years ago. My hunch is that it has been there for a long time, maybe decades. I recently came across some articles that address the toxicity of those ties. Should we remove them and some of the soil? Can we test for creosote levels? How likely is it that creosote is still a threat to our health?
Arapahoe County Colorado
Expert Response
Hello Brandon,
Apologies for the delay in responding to you.
You are correct that railroad ties have a lot of questionable toxic chemicals in them, as do pressure treated lumbers. If you are growing food crops in the area, then a soil test is a good start to see what is going on in the soil. You can do a heavy metals soil test (and a heavy metals test on your plants too) with the state soil testing lab. Here is their pricing list for their tests:
https://agsci.colostate.edu/soiltestinglab/price-list/
Here is how to take a proper soil test. You can either mail it to the lab, or drop it off. The lab is located at the CSU Spur campus in the National Western Complex area in Denver.
There is currently no way to test for creosote in soils. Here is more information about this from the Soil Science Society of America:
I would make plans to remove and replace your railroad ties, especially if you are wanting a food garden where they are located. I wouldn’t worry about removing any soil until you know whether it is contaminated or not, but unfortunately not knowing about the creosote part might prompt you to do so anyways. If you install new raised beds, with new soil though, then you might not need to dig out the ground soil in your yard.
Here is more information about this topic:
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/treated-wood-in-the-landscape/
I hope this helps!
Dawn
