Sludge Watch ==> steak & kidney pie? liver and onions? - beware if cattle graze sludged pasture

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Food grown on sludge (breads, milk, meat, almonds, pistacios, etc) can take 
up heavy metals and chemicals.  It needs to be labelled

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J Toxicol Environ Health. 1981 Jul-Aug;8(1-2):281-95. Related Articles, 
Links


Trace element levels in tissues from cattle fed a sewage sludge-amended 
diet.

Boyer KW, Jones JW, Linscott D, Wright SK, Stroube W, Cunningham W.

The levels of 20 elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, 
Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, V, and Zn) are reported for kidney, liver, muscle, 
spleen, and brain tissues taken from two groups of six steers per group in a 
feeding study conducted at Colorado State University. The control group was 
fed a normal feedlot cattle ration and the test group was fed the same 
ration amended with 12% (by weight) air-dried municipal sewage sludge. 
Elemental levels are also reported for the control and test diets, control 
and test feces, and sewage sludge added to the diet. All samples were 
analyzed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy and neutron 
activation analysis. Brief descriptions of the analytical methods are 
included. The levels of all metals determined were elevated in the test diet 
(as much as 19-fold for Cd) compared with the control diet. The levels of Pb 
and Cd in kidney and of Pb, Cd, and Cu in liver in the test animals were 
high enough to cause concern from a toxicological standpoint if these 
tissues were consumed regularly by humans. None of the levels of any of the 
other elements in the control and test animal tissues were high enough to 
cause similar concern with respect to human consumption.