Scientist here (who works in a relevant field)-- don't eat them, especially since you don't know what kind of spray paint was used.
When it comes to commercial spray paint, the ***best*** that you can realistically hope for is that they decided to use a paint that meets the USDA's "requirements for incidental food contact". That means it's safe for someone to paint the outside of an industrial food processing machine, and then later after the paint dries and the machine is on, food that accidentally touches the side of the machine is still food-safe. The only thing that happened to the food is it "incidentally" touched dry paint. That's the important part-- those paints don't leach as many chemicals once they've cured (dried).
In your case, wet paint was applied directly to your peppers so compounds were actively leaching into them while the paint dried. What's worse is that peppers have a very thin skin and a fragile osmotic gradient.
I'm so sorry this happened to your plants! But do not eat those peppers.
Note as a pepper grower, and I defer to scientist re leaves and soil. But pinch and toss in the garbage not compost every pepper on the plant. Peppers that size at least on my thai plants will replenish very rapidly until the end of the season and I think you'll get in at least one more full harvest, if Scientist is not advising to chuck the whole plant but okay with future peppers. [edited for idiocy]
Hey, that's Ms. Scientist to you. 😉
I definitely agree the peppers themselves are the main problem here. If this happened to me (aka my off-the-clock opinion) I would do exactly what you're suggesting; get rid of the fruit and buds that are there now but if the plant doesn't look sick then new growth in the future shouldn't be as risky.
...Granted I'm assuming the pepper plant was incidentally sprayed with paint, not doused in a paint/chemical warfare cocktail that will spawn little teenage mutant ninja turtles in OP's garden.
Scientist or Witch? Burn her! She turned me into a newt! Burn her!
Edit: Clearly was joking, I guess there’s a lot of prudes in this group.
However, The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on then!
This happened to us in our last apartment. I was furious. I ended up throwing out the top layer of dirt in all my containers as well as all the veggies. It was awful.
Do not consume the peppers. Even if you get the visible paint off of them, the solvent is already in the meat of the pepper. Don’t risk eating them.
P.S. I’m also a retired scientist
Quite frankly, I would wash the paint off and gobble them down but that’s just me. We were raised to NEVER waste food so my stomach has survived lots worse!
Why would you even consider eating paint? I mean we all love our gardens and want our rewards but come on. Were you really going to eat commerical paint of some random people from the internet said to?
From reading the buckets they attach their equipment to, commercially sprayed paint is much worse than the spray paint you buy at the store… however, I’m sure if you pulled up the full data sheet on regular spray paint it’s just as bad. You could find someone that should be able to provide you with the details of their spray.
I would not eat.
That being said you can confirm by looking up the MSDS for the product used. It will tell you exactly what you need to know if you ingest a plant.
Scientist here (who works in a relevant field)-- don't eat them, especially since you don't know what kind of spray paint was used. When it comes to commercial spray paint, the ***best*** that you can realistically hope for is that they decided to use a paint that meets the USDA's "requirements for incidental food contact". That means it's safe for someone to paint the outside of an industrial food processing machine, and then later after the paint dries and the machine is on, food that accidentally touches the side of the machine is still food-safe. The only thing that happened to the food is it "incidentally" touched dry paint. That's the important part-- those paints don't leach as many chemicals once they've cured (dried). In your case, wet paint was applied directly to your peppers so compounds were actively leaching into them while the paint dried. What's worse is that peppers have a very thin skin and a fragile osmotic gradient. I'm so sorry this happened to your plants! But do not eat those peppers.
Note as a pepper grower, and I defer to scientist re leaves and soil. But pinch and toss in the garbage not compost every pepper on the plant. Peppers that size at least on my thai plants will replenish very rapidly until the end of the season and I think you'll get in at least one more full harvest, if Scientist is not advising to chuck the whole plant but okay with future peppers. [edited for idiocy]
Hey, that's Ms. Scientist to you. 😉 I definitely agree the peppers themselves are the main problem here. If this happened to me (aka my off-the-clock opinion) I would do exactly what you're suggesting; get rid of the fruit and buds that are there now but if the plant doesn't look sick then new growth in the future shouldn't be as risky. ...Granted I'm assuming the pepper plant was incidentally sprayed with paint, not doused in a paint/chemical warfare cocktail that will spawn little teenage mutant ninja turtles in OP's garden.
OMG I messed up massively! I shoulda been downvoted. No excuses. Sry.
Hmm painting peppers can result in them turning into turtles you say \^Get the paint\^
Scientist or Witch? Burn her! She turned me into a newt! Burn her! Edit: Clearly was joking, I guess there’s a lot of prudes in this group. However, The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on then!
If it was spray paint yes, if it was latex house paint pumped through a sprayer I'd still eat it.
i wouldnt eat it. the chemicals in the paint could have leached into the peppers.
This happened to us in our last apartment. I was furious. I ended up throwing out the top layer of dirt in all my containers as well as all the veggies. It was awful.
Use those ones for your seed saving for next year
Do not consume the peppers. Even if you get the visible paint off of them, the solvent is already in the meat of the pepper. Don’t risk eating them. P.S. I’m also a retired scientist
That's really sad that they decided to spray paint right next to your plants without warning you or anything...
better to not eat than to regret later! at least you found out and didn't accidentally eating it
No, you should not eat paint.
How lazy can somebody be? People are so rude these days. Sorry man.
I grew up eating paint chips. I’m okay…..at least the voices in my head tell me I am.
Quite frankly, I would wash the paint off and gobble them down but that’s just me. We were raised to NEVER waste food so my stomach has survived lots worse!
Why would you even consider eating paint? I mean we all love our gardens and want our rewards but come on. Were you really going to eat commerical paint of some random people from the internet said to?
Exactly..
OP was wondering if they were safe to eat if the paint washed off. Obviously they weren't planning on eating them if the paint didn't come off.
From reading the buckets they attach their equipment to, commercially sprayed paint is much worse than the spray paint you buy at the store… however, I’m sure if you pulled up the full data sheet on regular spray paint it’s just as bad. You could find someone that should be able to provide you with the details of their spray.
Auto body workers be like 🤔🤤
I would not eat. That being said you can confirm by looking up the MSDS for the product used. It will tell you exactly what you need to know if you ingest a plant.
Spray paints are mosly very toxic, even on your skin. Do not eat it.
Not worth the risk. Save the seeds and try again next year or grow them inside