Pine cones and pesticides?

[lovebellabun]

I am at a city park full of pine cones? I wonder how like they have been affected by pesticides?

[Azerane]

It’s hard to say with pine cones, the most likely thing to have been sprayed are the lawn. I doubt pesticides have been sprayed directly on the cones while on the tree, however if a systemic pesticide has been used on the tree, the cones will be affected. The other concern obviously is that you collect the cones from the ground, so if it’s on a lawn area, there’s a likelihood that they’ve been sprayed when the lawn has been.

Whenever I collect pine cones, I rinse and scrub them, and soak them in a hot water and vinegar mix for a time, before rinsing again and either drying in the oven on the low setting or sitting out in the sun to dry.

[Author]

Messages