Styrofoam peanuts in planting containers of edibles

I have been asked to plant cherry tomato starts into a large whiskey barrel. They would like me to fill the bottom half of the barrel with styrafoam peanuts and lay soil on top of that. I have seen this suggestion in many of the top garden magazines - great way to recycle styrafoam - keep pots lighter/easier to move around, save money on potting soil. However, before I jump on that bandwagon I want to ask the Daves Garden Forum if anyone out there has concerns about toxins being absorbed by the roots of the plants. After all no one was concerned about drinking water out of plastic bottles until recently. Is this really a great idea or just a popular one?

Depends on what the packing peanuts are made out of. They have been making "organic" ones(for lack of a better word).So those would be safe to use. Just need to ask the company that shipped the peanuts.

I use aluminum drink cans in the big pots when we repot my wife's plants. They work really good and lighten the pot.

flowerjen - u bring up a good point - these are not eco-friendly these are the old style foam peanuts. However now that u bring that up - if I planted a barrel with the cornstarch type of peanuts - it would turn to slimy goo and soil level would slump? So going back to my concern - is it o.k. to plant edibles in pot with styrafoam peanuts or should that only be done with ornamental plants. Has anyone even researched this?
Jim - that is a good idea about the soda bottles but this person is really wanting to get rid of her styrafoam peanuts. I am going to suggest she take the peanuts to fedex etc. so they can reuse for packing. Thanks for your input.

I wouldn't do it with edibles.

flowerjen - thanks - I realize now to also test the peanuts to see if they are cornstarch type before planting ornamentals - otherwise it would be a slimy mess. I have convinced them for now to take the peanuts to UPS or FedEx etc. I really don't want to use the peanuts for someone else until I have tested it out myself. Why take any chances with edibles? There are always other options.

I've used them in my carrot/beet/garlic bathtub. The actual carrots don't go down far enough to "grow" in the peanuts, but fine roots may reach them. I haven't had any troubles, but I didn;t expect to. There are things like perlite and vermiculite that seem similar, but I really don't have a clue whether the roots would get anything toxic from the peanuts that could cause issues for people eating the tomatoes. Good question...