36 pounds on 2x2 pillar .. at least

Having done some googling and not finding much on the strength of Lego I decided I would so some testing myself. I built two thick square lego platforms and put 2x2 pillars in each corner 22 bricks tall. Then I started piling heavy stuff on top. I did this in my kitchen (sorry no pictures) so I used heavy stuff that was around the house. I started with some dumbell weights. Somewhat surprised that didn't collapse the pillars, I added a big box of cat food. Nothing. I added several five pound bags of sugar (we bake a lot). Nothing. Big Sams Club plastic container of kitty litter. Nothing. I had 144 pounds of weight on four 2x2 pillars. Each pillar was holding 36 pounds. At this point we started getting worried that if the pillars did fail the Lego pieces would be shot away at a high velocity and break something. How much could they have held? I don't know, I'm still very curious.