Contaminated trees?

[3fires]

Would things like creosote preserved telephone poles, treated fenceposts and asphalt driveways cause syrup to be contaminated?

A person asked me if trees in these areas would be safe to tap if the roots are in close proximity, I had no honest or knowledgable answer to give them.

[shane hickey]

no none of the stuff you listed will contaminate the syrup unless you use it to boil then it would be a big promblem. I know your talking about town trees,
these trees are better because they have a bigger crown, but they will bud sooner. shane

[3fires]

Are there areas or things that should be avoided that may contaminate the tree? like industrial areas?

[maple flats]

Not unless you tap one or more of the telephone poles. The roots of a tree are an excellent filter.

[3fires]

No telephone poles, check. :)

[BryanEx]

:lol: ... I actually tap a telephone pole on the edge of my maple bush each year as a joke. The funny part is it's rarely the kids I fool but their parents check the bucket regularly.

[3fires]

That's funny!

[nas]

Don't they get table syrup from telephone poles?:D That's what I tell my kids.;)

Nick

[markcasper]

There was a study done years ago and remember seeing it in the maple digest back around 1990 or so about road salt and the effects there of. I do not tap any roadsides so never has been an issue for me.

[collinsmapleman2012]

the salt really takes out on the trees i tap a few in my front yard and they yield very litttle if any sap. havent checked sugar content but im small enough where ill take whatever sap i can get, besides its good PR.

[markcasper]

it may be the compaction from the road too. I have a few next to a driveway and they barely run.....never have.

[DrTimPerkins]

Don't they get table syrup from telephone poles?

That is what those in Quebec call table syrup, "sirop de poteau", translated literally as "pole syrup."

[Mike in NY]

it may be the compaction from the road too. I have a few next to a driveway and they barely run.....never have.

8 of my biggest trees are right in front of my sugarhouse on the edge of the road. they never produce anything even with 3 or 4 buckets on em. This spring I will hang a bucket just on the road side for advertisement purposes. puzzling cuz trees 20 feet from them produce well

[C.Wilcox]

I would not worry about a creosote coated telephone pole or asphalt driveways as they aren't likely to leave a significant amount of "pollution" in the nearby soil profile. However, if you had an underground fuel tank on your property or the neighbor used to run a gas station and you noticed a cement truck over there pouring a slab over the old pump stands in the middle of the night I would avoid tapping anything too close-by. :)

[3fires]

What about a septic field?

[C.Wilcox]

With a modern mound system the theory is that the graywater is filtered by the sand bed before reaching the groundwater table. Sand is a highly effective filtering agent so realistically you should be fine to tap trees around a mound system, again providing no one is pouring toxic chemicals down the sink. However, there's obviously a bit of a mental hurdle with that scenario and people tend to remember that sort of thing. You probably don't want to be known as "that guy".

[DrTimPerkins]

What about a septic field?

The trees will likely grow very well and be quite sweet (as long as you don't put herbicide on your lawn).

[BryanEx]

Not exactly all-encompassing but this is what the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture has published in their guidelines;


Food Safety Hazard –
• Chemical – absorption of toxic chemicals and/or heavy metals by tree roots
Bush areas are sometimes used to dump farm wastes such as empty chemical or pesticide
containers, unsaleable maple products, or other farm trash. Harmful chemicals may enter the
soil and/or water from these dumps. Any trash that could be harmful to the environment
should be taken to a Ministry of the Environment approved waste disposal site.
It is very unlikely that the bush is growing on an old landfill or toxic waste site containing
heavy metals or other toxic substances. However, if it is, tree roots may absorb these
substances. A 1997 project at Dartmouth College measured 0.51 parts per billion of lead in
sap collected from trees growing in soil with a high lead concentration. If there are any bush
site doubts, producers should consult an environmental expert.


... I still say tap the telephone poles though. The entertainment is worth it. :D

[3fires]

The trees will likely grow very well and be quite sweet (as long as you don't put herbicide on your lawn).

So, if herbicides are used the trees should not be tapped?

Living in a slightly rural, but suburban environment that would be hard to find. Especially considering the entire area used to be old farm fields where all kinds of toxic chemicals were used. And the roadside ditches are filled with toxic chemicals as well from many years of vehicle use and runoff.

Unless you live in a pristine wilderness that had never been logged, inhabitied or farmed, etc. it would be hard to avoid these chemicals wouldn't it? Even then the chemicals from vehicle exhaust and such travel through the air and the trees filter it out to some extent. Then the rain washes off the leaves and it falls into the soil.

[DrTimPerkins]

So, if herbicides are used the trees should not be tapped?

That was not my meaning. What I was getting at is that the herbicides (depending upon what it was) that are spread on lawns might impact the health/growth of the trees.

In terms of herbicides and sap collection....that depends upon the specific herbicide used. Some are OK, some are NOT. You'll have to read the label and do your own research on the specific herbicide in question. If you are organic certified, only (very few) certain types of herbicides are allowed.

Another poster wrote:

A 1997 project at Dartmouth College measured 0.51 parts per billion of lead in sap collected from trees growing in soil with a high lead concentration.

So let's put this in perspective. 0.51 ppb is a worst case scenario in a very highly lead polluted area. If we multiply that by a 40x concentration factor in converting sap to syrup, and discount any of that lead being tied up in sugar sand (much of it probably would be), yields a possible syrup lead concentration of 20.4 ppb from this sap. The detection limit for the most common type of syrup lead analysis is 30-40 ppb. So soil-based lead is a very minor (at most) contributor to lead in syrup. The action level is 250-500 ppb. In general, the vast majority of lead comes from sap collection, storage and processing equipment....not from the soil.

Several other studies have shown there is ESSENTIALLY NO reasonably detectible level of lead in sap as it comes out of the tree. The Dartmouth study was the sole exception to that.

[Homestead Maple]

Thank you Dr. for putting this into perspective. Now we don't have to be concerned about lead in sap, in a natural state.

[3fires]

Thanks DrTimPerkins for the clarification.