What's in fertilizer?

[st0wandgrow]

Bio-solids are commonly used in fertilizer, but what are these? Fertilizer companies are only required to tell you the levels (by weight) of the macro-nutrients, which typically only amount to 10%-20% of the bags/bottles contents. What makes up the other 80%-90%??

I'll stick with neem cake and alfalfa meal, thank you.

http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/depts/gleanings/0803/rutter.shtml

 

[foreverflyhi]

You should be carefull posting these things. These corporations have paid lurkers too troll this type of thing. Lol
Your on their list

 

[Commander Strax]

you are not gonna get any fancy cartoons or cool names with your 'Neem Cake" and your "Alfalfa Meal"

 

[vostok]

Honestly it's sewage, for years potting mixes are a careful blend of your local communities sewage and fine local utility lawn wastes, carefully composted down to be harmless, tho you can still get the dreaded legionnaires disease if you wanna breathe it in.
Of major concern to many bio science geeks for years is the heavy metal content of our western drugs leaching from the sewage into out food chain with these commercial composts and potting mixes, already the human female (artificial) hormone equivalent (estrogen?).... has been blamed for the lack of active sperm in the scrotum's of many 18-21 yo males, wait and see! less that 40 million swimmers per mil, you are screwed

 

[DonPetro]

We should all strive to be self-sustainable if not for the peace of mind alone.

 

[vostok]

The real money ain't in selling bummed out kids 'hot' soils but in extracting those high end medical metals and chemicals easily, ... to be re-cycled ...this subject has gone very hush hush with recent changes in Bayer corporate make up ...!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sludge

Silver is present to the degree of 20 mg/kg of sludge, on average, a near economically recoverable level, while some sludges of exceptionally high quality have up to 200 milligrams of silver per kilogram of sludge; one outlier demonstrated a silver lode of 800–900 mg per kg of sludge.
Barium is present at the rate of 500 mg/kg, while manganese is present at the rate of 1 g/kg sludge.
High levels of sterols and other hormones have been detected, with averages in the range of up to 1,000,000 µg/kg sludge.
http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/drinking-toilet-water-science-and-psychology-wastewater-recycling
http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0551e/t0551e08.htm

 

[CC Dobbs]

Biosolids are dried human shit. Also sometimes called nightsoil.

 

[Pattahabi]

They've been selling us biosolids to dump on the land since the banned them from dumping it in the ocean. Lots of heavy metals, and their quality standards are lacking to say the least.

BioSolids
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Portal:Toxic_Sludge

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/11/11092/meet-kelloggs-sludge-puppet

http://www.rodalenews.com/compost-sewage-sludge

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Biosolids

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sewage_sludge

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http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_EPA's_plan_to_bypass_opposition_to_sewage_sludge_disposal

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Quote:
Independent testing commissioned by the Food Rights Network found toxic contaminants in San Francisco's sewage sludge "compost". In the sewage sludge product that San Francisco's Public Utlity Commission was giving away to school and urban gardens as "organic compost" are contaminants with endocrine-disruptive properties including polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), flame retardants, nonylphenol detergent breakdown products, and the antibacterial agent triclosan. The independent tests were conducted for the Food Rights Network by Dr. Robert C. Hale of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.
Watch the two videos below--from outstanding investigative reporting by the local CBS affiliate--which document the startling story of how San Francisco is violating its own precautionary principle law by dumping hazardous sludge on city gardens (and elsewhere)
--

above copied and vidoes can be seen from toxic sludge

 

[dux]

I believe animal shelters send off the "un adopted" to fertilizer plants also ...

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

Ugh.. dont even get me started on how much heavy metals end up in fish based fertilizers...

 

[OKLP]

has been blamed for the lack of active sperm in the scrotum's of many 18-21 yo males, wait and see!

I'm not necessarily sure that is a bad thing?

 

[OKLP]

I believe animal shelters send off the "un adopted" to fertilizer plants also ...

I believe that! Many vets send their dead animals for "rendering" into various "products", complete with their collars, diseases, infections, and potentially the poisons used to kill the animal.

I wouldn't buy ANY "fertilizer" that contains "bio-solids", much of it ends up in PET foods too!

 

[vostok]

Animals and in some countries expired humans are sent to rendering plants where the bodies are boiled, once cooked the bodies are then crushed for their fats that are later sold as tallow, used in manufacturing, the bones crushed and bagged as bone meal ...non is as dangerous as consuming active pathogens like in human shit or the metallic poisons associated with used human medicines.
In most large international cities water is recycled sewage, London,UK can guarantee the water has been recycled 8 times(1989) before it eventually hits the ocean, unfortunately getting the common contraceptive pill out of the water is very very difficult, hence the above comment regarding low sperm count, ...and I thought you guys new that...?

 

[beardo]