leaching from stacking bricks

A few years ago we put together a beautiful raised bed for annuals. We built it out of the rust and charcoal colored easy stack bricks that are so popular. We would love one to match, to plant vegetables. Would there be any concern about leaching from the bricks into food? Should we line it with plastic, or would there be a concern about that?

Doug says: I've never actually heard anybody say there's a problem with this material in gardening. So I did a quick search on some safety sites I know of and bingo - I got a quick lesson in concrete leaching. Turns out there is a concern with some leaching in some concretes. If some products are added to the concrete in making it, then there is indeed leaching and indeed an environmental concern. Whether plants will pick this material up is something I haven't researched.

Having said that, frankly, this subject is beyond my technical skills to answer. You're going to have to go to somebody who understands this stuff far better than I do.

But from a practical standpoint, if I were to build (now) using these materials, I'd surely want to line my veg garden with plastic to stop any leaching into my soils.

Who knew?

Thanks for the question.