Sludge Watch ==> Denver : Stewing over Sewage Sludge - Drugs - Metrogro

[Maureen Reilly]

A couple of weeks ago the Denver Post reported no male fish downstream from 
sewage treatment plants. At about the same time Oregon passed an Act to try 
& quantify the contaminates in their streams, rivers and lakes. Today the 
focus is back in Colorado as the Post reports a USGS representative as 
saying, "We have a problem that we are responsible for. Everyone who uses 
these products are distributing them to the environment. If anyone wants to 
point a finger, they should point it at themselves."

In case you're wondering, a product called Metrogro in this article is 
actually sewage sludge packaged and sold for consumer use as garden 
fertilizer - a common pratice across the country.

And operators from sewage treatment plants say there is no concern because 
the chemical levels found are so tiny. Newsflash - the chemicals are 
designed to do their work at tiny levels.

..........................................
http://test.denverpost.com/news/ci_6336401

denver & the west
Stewing over sewage fertilizer
By Jeremy P. Meyer
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/10/2007 03:27:32 AM MDT


Jerry Hall, a field operator for Metrowastewater, unloads byproduct from 
wastewater process Thursday at a farmer's field near Deer Trail as a car 
rolls past on near by Interstate 70. (Post / RJ Sangosti)
Traces of drugs, steroids and fragrances linger in sewage byproducts sold as 
home fertilizer for lawns and gardens long after they leave the wastewater 
treatment plant, according to a federal study.

The question, some researchers say, is whether those traces in "biosolid" 
products put humans and the environment at risk.

The study looked at products sold by nine sewage-treatment plants - 
including a $3 bag of Metrogro, a compost sold by Denver's Metro Wastewater 
Reclamation District.

The same 25 contaminants were found in each of the nine products, including 
an antihistamine, an antidepressant, a fire retardant, steroids, 
disinfectants and detergents. Levels were measured in parts per billion.

Wastewater-treatment officials say there should be no concern over chemicals 
from everyday products at such tiny levels.

Still, it has yet to be determined whether traces can cause problems, said 
Chad Kinney, an Eastern Washington University professor and lead author of 
the federal study.

"Do we need to be concerned now that we know they are present?" Kinney said. 
"That's the next step."

The study found a total of 55 different contaminants.

"This is something that we need to be aware of," said Edward Furlong, a 
Denver-based research chemist for the U.S. Geological Survey and co-author 
of the study.

"Half of the biosolids produced in the United States are land-applied," 
Furlong said. "What it does at those levels, we don't know."

At the metro wastewater plant in north Denver, more than 160 million gallons 
of waste are treated every day before being discharged to the South Platte 
River. The process produces about 74 dry tons of sewage biosolids daily.

About 90 percent of the byproduct is land-applied to farms to boost nitrogen 
levels and organic matter in the soil - mostly for dryland wheat.

The material must meet federal and state standards for pathogens and metals 
before it is allowed to leave the north Denver plant. Household compost gets 
further treatment for pathogens, according to plant officials.

Levels of these detected contaminants are "extremely low" and are among 
chemicals commonly used every day, said Becky Patterson, specialist with the 
metro plant's resource recovery and reuse department.

"We are using much larger concentrations directly in and on our bodies as 
part of our daily lives, so we might be the best canary in that mine," 
Patterson said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing biosolids from around 
the country in a new study, said Bob Brobst, the EPA's biosolid program 
manager in Denver.

"It's always prudent to look and understand these things," he said. "Based 
on today's science, it's safe."

Still, critics say, even the term "biosolid" was to disguise the problem of 
chemicals in sludge being spread around the environment.

"Wastewater-treatment plants were never designed to make fertilizer," said 
Caroline Snyder, founder of the New Hampshire- based Citizens for 
Sludge-Free Land. "They were designed to clean sewage."

Land application of "sludge" is damaging the environment, and regulations 
are allowing too much metal and organic chemicals to accumulate, she said.

"Everything no one wants goes into the sewer," she said.

Ellen Harrison, a professor at Cornell University's Waste Management 
Institute, said not enough is known about the chemicals in sewage biosolid.

"When you clean wastewater, some things are degraded and chewed up at the 
plant, some things pass through in the water, some things go into the air," 
she said. "The nastier things go into the sludge."

A study from Scotland found that sheep grazing in fields with sewage 
biosolids had reproductive problems - fewer eggs in females and reduced 
testosterone in males.

The USGS's Furlong agreed that more studies are warranted to discover the 
effects of biosolids on the environment.

"There are no bad guys here," he said. "We have a problem that we are 
responsible for. Everyone who uses these products are distributing them to 
the environment. If anyone wants to point a finger, they should point it at 
themselves."








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Comment:



low doses can have effects
Once upon a time, the notion The Dose Makes the Poison was accepted as 
gospel. However, hormesis studies show that very low doses may induce 
adverse effects that higher doses don't cause. Also, each person thus far 
tested has numerous intra-body toxins. Interactive and summed effects of 
these so-called low-dose toxins needs be researched, especially given 
increased rates of various pathologies among humans. As nutrients necessary 
for detoxification are utilized, if those nutrients become depleted within 
an individual, he or she is far more likely to develop adverse sequelae from 
myriad, low-dose toxins.
Posted by TeresaBinstock at 9:29 AM on July 10