Now farmlands and even garden plots are at risk if they have used any fertilizers with sludge from the local sewage treatment facilities. Los Angeles was selling all their amended sludge to all the local hardware stores and to local farmers. In recent news, some of these local farms have had recalls due to high levels of bacterial contaminants in their produce caused by this sludge. There have been no reports about the heavy mineral contamination: lead, mercury, cadmium, but even the "organic" label does not guarantee bacterial, heavy metal contamination, or other water borne contaminants, which could also include sludge residues, pesticides, and herbicides from other nearby farms.
US EPA's 503 sludge rule (1993) allows treated sewage sludges, aka biosolids, to be land-applied to farms, forests, parks, school playgrounds, home gardens and other private and public lands. According to a recent EPA survey, biosolids contain a wide range of mutagenic and neurotoxic chemicals, which are present at a million-fold higher concentrations (ppm versus ppt) compared with their levels in polluted air and water (1). Biosolids contain all of the lipophilic (fat-soluble) chemical wastes that once polluted our rivers and lakes, but which now settle out at sewage treatment plants and become concentrated in sewage sludges. Most biosolids contain ppm concentrations of heavy metals, including chromium, lead, and mercury. They contain similarly high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and semi-volatiles, such as bis (2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate, Benzo(a)pyrene), and polybrominated diphenyl ether congeners (PBDE flame retardants). Most biosolids also contain pathogenic agents and ppm levels of many common drugs, including ciprofloxacin (Cipro), carbamazepine (Tegretol, Equetro), and fluoxetine (Prozac).
For the full story, please visit:
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/how-ep ... er-s-story
The EPA, USDA, and FDA are not protecting us .... WHY?
It would be better if farmers organized their own oversight group rather than depend on a corrupt government. Furthermore, these huge agricultural monopolies have less vested interest in consumer safety than local farmers who eat their own crops.
I have never used these so-called "natural fertilizers" which use the Los Angeles sludge because my wise husband warned me about all the home jewelry makers who use toxic metals and chemicals and who dump these toxins down the drain.
