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  • From: Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] fertilizers
  • Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 07:40:58 -0500

Folks,
Heavy metals are sometimes found in fertilizers, due mostly to their presence in the mined raw materials used to make them. However this is hardly a universal problem in all deposits. The company I deal with spends a lot of effort to get clean materials, both mined and manufacturing by products. We have a brewing scandal here where one of the largest farm supply co-ops in the country "disposed" of heavy metal laden waste by blending it into fertilizer. I guess it just show one needs to ask tough questions of ones suppliers.
Mark


This story Bill probably got from me - I got it from a newspaper article
in Sydney in mid 1980's - the cadmium component in super phosphate
fertiliser accumulates in the soil, the sulphuric acid acidifies the soil
and the cadmium mobilises to be taken up by plants - the vegies tested
has 350 times the WHO acceptable cadmium level for human consumption.
>And remember that orchards used to get copper and arsenate of lead applied.
>That would be a counter-indication for some sorts of agricultural production
>on that land.
Arsenic is a big one on old banana farms around here.

Haven't had a chance to check it out yet but Russ Grayson alerted us to a
series of articles in Sydney Morning Herald on health & environmental
hazards of fertilisers in our food
URL: www.smh.com.au/

Robyn
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Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM





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