Biosolids-Based Fertilizers are Harming Farmers and Eaters Across America. Tell the EPA and USDA to ban the practice of using toxic sewage sludge as fertilizer and compost on farms and gardens.
“Biosolids” is the word waste treatment industry marketers came up with to rebrand sewage sludge, the solid byproduct of wastewater treatment processes. The reason the industry needed to rebrand sewage sludge was because they planned on marketing and selling the nutrient-rich waste to farmers and home gardeners as cheap fertilizer and compost products.
But biosolids aren’t just rich in nutrients. Biosolids can contain high levels of toxic PFAS “Forever Chemicals” (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that aren’t removed during the waste treatment process. And neither are the phthalates, pesticides, PCBs, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals, microplastics, heavy metals, and innumerable other harmful substances that have been found in biosolids.
Applications of biosolids contaminate the soil with toxic PFAS and other chemicals, which are then taken up by crops grown in that soil. PFAS also migrates to contaminate groundwater and surface waters. The meat, milk and eggs of livestock become contaminated when the animals consume adulterated crops and water.
The practice of using biosolids as fertilizer on conventional farms has been happening for decades but has, more recently, turned into a national catastrophe, creating a crisis for farmers and ranchers across the country.
Although the use of biosolids as fertilizer is prohibited in organic agriculture, even organic farms have been hit hard.
GMO Free USA
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