Subject: Humanure or Human Waste Used as a "fertilizer"
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 08:24:10 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article dated; May 20, 2002 from the National Post entitled: UBC warns of cancer path: from sewage to farms to you Records show 20% of fertilizers violate microbe limits by Margaret Munro.
VANCOUVER - Health officials are being urged to stop using treated human sewage on grazing land because of the danger of cancer-causing toxins getting into the food chain.
A report by researchers at the University of British Columbia for the province's medical health officers warns that the toxins from human sewage -- biosolids -- could accumulate in grazing cattle and certain vegetables such as cucumbers.
And federal records obtained by the National Post show almost 20% of fertilizers and composts made from human sewage and other matter, and used widely throughout the country on lawns and gardens, are in violation of federal limits for microbial contamination.
The UBC researchers are recommending that municipal governments stop using biosolids to fertilize grazing land until more research can be done.
Grazing cattle and cows swallow not only grass but some of the dirt it grows in. Cows can eat almost a kilogram of soil a day and if that soil contains a lot of biosolids, contaminants such as dioxins and furans -- which can cause cancer -- could build up in the animals' tissues and end up in the human food chain when people eat beef.
Vancouver trucks close to 50,000 tonnes of biosolids a year into the B.C. interior, where much of it is spread on ranchland as fertilizer.
The report says there is a great need for further data on the relationship between biosolids application and its impact on agricultural land. In the meantime, it recommends against using biosolids on grazing land.
Federal records also point to problems with microbial contamination of fertilizers and composts made from human sewage, animal manure and food waste. These fertilizers are sold across the country.
The records show 18% of fertilizers or composts tested last year were in violation of federal limits for microbial contamination.
"Just imagine if you spread that stuff on your lawn and then a little kid goes by and picks it up and chews on it," said Dr. Coleman Rotstein, president of the Canadian Infectious Diseases Society.
Inspectors from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which enforces the Fertilizers Act, tested 55 fertilizers and composts. Of 21 tested for fecal coliforms, 24% had levels above the allowable limit of 1,000 fecal coliforms per gram of compost or fertilizer.
And 15% of 34 fertilizers tested for salmonella were over the limit set for that bacterium, which is three salmonella for every four grams of fertilizer or compost.
Fecal coliforms and salmonella are considered "indicator" species because they are such hardy microbes. If they survive sewage treatment and composting processes, so might more serious pathogens.
CFIA officials refuse to identify the "non-compliant" fertilizers and compost. And they will provide no details on how high the bacterial counts were. Nor are they keen to discuss whether more monitoring is needed given the 18% non-compliance rate.
"I'd prefer not to comment on that," says Dr. Kate Billingsley, acting national manager of the CFIA's fertilizer section.
Dr. Billingsley says there is a "negative bias" in the statistics because inspectors target material they suspect might have problems.
She said non-compliant products are held back and returned to their producer for further treatment or disposal. If they come from outside the country, she says, they are sent back. Some fertilizers, such as Milogranite, are produced from the sewage sludge of U.S. cities. mmunro@nationalpost.com
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20020520/282281.html&qs=biosolids
Copyright © 2002 National Post Online
********************
Dr. Coleman Rotstein
Professor of Medicine / Infectious Disease Consultant
E-mail: crotstei@mcmaster.ca
E-mail: crotstei@fhs.mcmaster.ca
McMaster University
Hamilton Health Sciences Centre,
711 Concession St.,
Hamilton ON
L8V 1C3
Canadian Infectious Disease Society (CIDS)
http://cids.medical.org
********************
Dr. Kate Billingsley
Biotechnology Officer / Acting National Manager
Bus:(613) 225-2342 (4657)
Fax:(613) 228-6629
E-mail: billingsleyk@inspection.gc.ca
Fertilizer Section
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
59 Camelot Dr
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0Y9