Apologies if this isn’t related to no-dig as such but it is related to organic food growing (I hope). I recently bought an anti-kink hose sold by the internet sales arm of a major supermarket. The hose is made in China and the packaging lists the materials as PVC, ABS, PP and Zinc. The chemical odour given off by this hose has to be smelled to be believed and I’m more than a little relucant to use it on my food crop. An internet search has thrown up a number of studies showing that many PVC hoses contain harmful substances such as lead, endocrine disruptions, neurotoxins, you name it. Admittedly, the said articles addressed the American market where it seems that alternative “drink-safe hoses” are available to buy. Can anyone recommend a good, “less-toxic” hose that doesn’t stink to high heaven when new? I have been using a plastic watering can but it never smelled from new and it appears to be made from a very stable material. I suspect that the plasticizers used to make hoses more flexible are part of the problem.
