Chilli Seeds With Thiram Seed Treatment...

I was planting my seeds, and noticed one packet with a strange message on the end.

Naturally I'm a big fan of googling anything I don't understand, so I have.

Thiram Seed Treatment is a process of coating seeds in a powder which acts as a fungicide. It's done with good intent from a seed processor's point of view, as it both increases the chance of germination on seeds, and also it reduces the chance of "damping off" or other seedling related rots.

However, it turns out, it's a fairly toxic chemical. Most fungicides are, so that shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Obviously I had a few questions, so I'll save you the research and show you what I found. Note that this is my interpretation of the facts that are available on the internet. They may not be 100% correct.

1) Is it going to harm my health if I eat fruit from seeds treated with this?

No. It's a common seed treatment, and it's used commercially. You've probably eaten a lot of plants treated with this in your life. Probably more than you could count. The common thinking is that the chemical breaks down fast in soil (halves every 15 days) so even by harvest time if you ate the seed and soil instead of the fruits, there wouldn't be much left.

2) Is it harmful to touch/handle

Well, this is a bit more sticky. Yes is the short answer. However, my understanding is that due to the coating process and the concentration of the chemicals, by the time you get the handful of seeds to plant, there's not much there for you to eat.

The people who work in the coating plants, or agricultural levels of seed handling, however, are at serious risk if they don't wear protective clothing.

It's also worth noting that inhaling the stuff is far more harmful than eating it, and one source states it's worse still to have it in contact with your skin. Of course, none of this is a good idea if you're able to avoid contact, but certainly it's a bad idea to get into a habit of sniffing the seed packet.

Obviously you should wash your hands after handling, but you should ALWAYS wash your hands after handling chilli seeds!

3) Should I buy seeds that are treaded with Thiram?

Up to you. My personal opinion is no. Simply because chilli seeds are reliable germinators anyway, if stored and grown in the right conditions. And we're not growing seeds commercially, so who cares if a couple don't germinate out of your packet of 20 seeds?
It's a case of overkill if you ask me.

Plus, the whole point of growing stuff at home, is that you ultimately are doing it your way, and my way is to grow without chemicals.

However, if I have a massive problem with damping off at any point, I might change my tune.

More information? I found these links helpful
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6687
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiram
http://www.agrian.com/pdfs/42-S_Thiram_Fungicide_(06182007_Version_21)_MSDS.pdf