Rain can contain Vitamin B12

This is one of those facts that gets bandied about the internet like an erratic little fish in a whirlpool. So I did a little research and found someone who seems to have shed some light on the subject. Giselle Brand, Clinical Dietitian at The University of Sydney states, “Many microorganisms that occur naturally in nature can produce vitamin B12. Rain water is not pure water.” According to Giselle, as rainwater falls through the air and washes down roof tops, microorganisms can get caught up inside it. And these organisms can produce Vitamin B12 as a metabolic byproduct.

So as we can see, rain does not inherently contain Vitamin B12. However, there are circumstances whereby it can contain Vitamin B12.

According to Bruce C Parker of the Department of Botany, University of Washington, St Louis, Missouri, one of the sources of rainwater that contains the highest concentrations of Vitamin B12 is soil runoff. So again, we can deduce from this that as the rainwater runs across the soil it picks up microorganisms that produce Vitamin B12 as a metabolic byproduct.