It is hard to say. It probably depends on the specific chemicals, most of them are pretty minimal before we eat them and they are only going to get less as time goes on however I know of no way to keep finished castings from touching the food you add to the bin so there is no guarntee that even if what has gone through a worm has been "cleaned" of any residue, that it won't be tainted again by touching something that has not yet gone through a worm. I don't know of any research that says worms will remove or destroy and chemicals or pathogens.

I don't know the exact situation of your chemical and pesticide free garden scraps. Just an FYI, just because something is "organic" does not mean absolutely no pesticides, it really just means only organic pesticides are used. Then again, if you grow the stuff yourself, you know exactly what has been used.

Personally, I don't think I'd worry too much about using some one else's non organic kitchen scraps for my worms but then again, I often buy and eat non-organic stuff myself.

There are other options, the worms don't have to be fed just kitchen and produce scraps. Your own yard waste can be a source of worm food. Leaves, grass clippings, garden plants that have been removed from the garden, spent flowers.

Also, cardboard is more than just a bedding. Corrigated cardboard has glues which provide some protein, so cardboard is about the only bedding that is also a good food source for your worms.

Good luck!

The only concern I would have about other people's scraps is the ikky factor since my scraps are really from food prep but you should have enough on your own - paper towel/bath tissue tubes, newspaper and everything that tclynx mentions!

How big is your current bin and how long have you had it that you are upgrading to TWO bins! Wow!

Good luck!!

Hi our crrent set up is a large rubbermaid container and we have had our worm about 7 months. I actually hope to add 2 more bins.

I have plenty of research on the worms ability to remove pathogens but can find nothing on chemicals I have even contacted a number of colleges with no luck:(

I hope to pick up produce scraps from the local grocer so I am not worried about the ick factor. unfortuantly our yard waste is already utilized in other ways.