Please read about Diatomaceous Earth

[CorvusFarm]

And....don't do this....ever...
View attachment 1196891

You win best response!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Strip mining is simply the removal of coal at the surface, which is not possible in most places.... Maybe you love [?] in the mountains West of the Mississippi, where strip mining is more common. I grew up East of the Mississippi, where strip mining isn't possible....

Well I'll have you to know that i "Love" (make that live) on the right bank of the Tennessee River. Last time I was in university that counted as EAST of the Mississippi and while underground coal mines were more common 75 years ago by the 1950s most new coal mines were of the open pit type. But then again I suppose that you can believe everything when you know anything about the subject. Y'all come on down now, you hear? I can show you 1000s of stripmining cuts, all the way from coal, & brown ore to phosphates, limestone, sand, and the other limestone, marble.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Well I'll have you to know that i "Love" (make that live) on the right bank of the Tennessee River. Last time I was in university that counted as EAST of the Mississippi and while underground coal mines were more common 75 years ago by the 1950s most new coal mines were of the open pit type. But then again I suppose that you can believe everything when you know anything about the subject. Y'all come on down now, you hear? I can show you 1000s of stripmining cuts, all the way from coal, & brown ore to phosphates, limestone, sand, and the other limestone, marble.

Yeah...I'm from Pennsylvania (well east of the Mississippi)...my entire life (with the exception of the last year or so) was in the heart of anthracite coal country. Grandfather was a deep coal miner until he died of Black Lung. Few deep coal holes remain but strip mining is quite evident. Wasn't quite sure where the poster was getting his/her info...but figured...eh...mox nix in regards to the actual DE post.

 

[CorvusFarm]

Are you just naturally angry, or did I do something special to earn your displeasure?

Yes. My apologies for the typo while answering on my phone. Live...not love. And there are plenty of strip mines across the country. East of the Mississippi up through the 1970s, shaft mines into deeper veins of coal were more prevalent, because they were more lucrative. But that is from the UMWA, so i don't know if you can trust their knowledge of the coal industry.

I'd be happy to visit Tennessee, seeing as that is where my paternal family is from and where they mined. Or Alabama for maternal side. Or Southern Illinois for myself.

Again, there may be some relevance in the study listed. But I will defer to your vast and infallible knowledge of all things mining, tunneling, and earth removing.

Apologies for my ill-conceived post.

 

[CorvusFarm]

Yeah...I'm from Pennsylvania (well east of the Mississippi)...my entire life (with the exception of the last year or so) was in the heart of anthracite coal country. Grandfather was a deep coal miner until he died of Black Lung. Few deep coal holes remain but strip mining is quite evident. Wasn't quite sure where the poster was getting his/her info...but figured...eh...mox nix in regards to the actual DE post.

My grandfather and great-grandfather also died of black lung. The strip-mine scarring where I grew up is also prevalent. In my dad's mine, they actually strip mined on top of the shaft mine decades after the vein was nearly mined out. But the evidence of those shaft mines is much harder to see.

Welcome to the Backyard Miners Forum.

 

[chickchickie]

Sorry this is about a month late but after doing some research, I found this that may be of some interest:

In theory, food vs pool grade diatomaceous earth means that food grade DE has not been heated, so that the naturally occurring amorphous silica (does not causes silicosis) isn't converted into crystalline silica (does cause silicosis). That's this and this article here http://www.absorbentproductsltd.com/food-grade-diatomaceous-earth-vs-pool-grade.html http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html

However, the EPA (a slightly more credible source) recommends neither food nor pool grade DE be used for bed bugs (meaning humans will be in close contact and breathing in the dust for extended periods of time as it is on your bed) neither food nor pool grade DE are regulated enough that you can guarantee the food grade contains no crystalline silica. (And despite what many other websites have claimed, a quick search on the FDA database turned up no actual listed regulations for food grade DE regarding silica content. Apparently the FDA only considered safety of ingestion when they made the food and pool labels and didn't assume people or animals would be breathing it in.) Instead, the EPA recommends using EPA regulated DE as these are required to contain only amorphous silica. Note that the EPA does not argue that DE is dangerous; only that certain forms of DE are dangerous. (Further research showed that most food grade DE contain relatively low amounts of crystalline silica so you still don't want to be breathing it in, but it's low enough that both you and your pets would need chronic exposure to it to get silicosis.) https://pesticides.zendesk.com/hc/e...or-Pool-Grade-Diatomaceous-Earth-for-Bed-Bugs

Lastly, there is this peer reviewed study that looks at toxicity of DE injected into the bloodstream. Not quite the same thing as breathing it in, but turns out different DE from different mines have varying degrees of toxicity when put directly in the blood and it's not just related to the DE containing amorphous or crystalline silica. But in any case, this likely isn't applicable as I assume no one is shooting up DE. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4509483/

Make of this what you will. And whether the source is DE or not, you should always avoid getting dust/ash in your lungs because it's not good for you.

 

[Kusanar]

Lastly, there is this peer reviewed study that looks at toxicity of DE injected into the bloodstream. Not quite the same thing as breathing it in, but turns out different DE from different mines have varying degrees of toxicity when put directly in the blood and it's not just related to the DE containing amorphous or crystalline silica. But in any case, this likely isn't applicable as I assume no one is shooting up DE. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4509483/

May not be shooting it up, but, if you, or a chicken has an open wound and comes in contact with DE there is a good chance some will get in the blood stream.

 

[JaeG]

I can vouch for the fact that DE is useless against red coop mite. I found thousands happily wallowing around in the deep bed of DE I had in the bottom of my nestboxes under the straw, very much alive. None were dead. It was a nightmare! Elemental Sulphur has proven much more effective. As has Neem oil. Both are much cheaper options where I am.

 

[chickchickie]

May not be shooting it up, but, if you, or a chicken has an open wound and comes in contact with DE there is a good chance some will get in the blood stream.

Very true! You do not want to get DE in an open wound just as you wouldn't want to get dirt in a cut. I do wonder, however, how much DE could realistically get into the average wound and if it would be enough to cause adverse effects. That study tested both pool and food grade DE and injected 63–1000 μg/ml DE powder into 1 ml sheep blood. Not sure about the 63 end but getting 1000 μg/1 ml blood seems like it would require a pretty big open wound. I also wonder how the toxicity of DE injected into the blood stream compares with the toxicity of injecting other parasite control products, as I feel like anything foreign put directly into your blood can't be good for you, but some products are probably worse than others.