Nothing seems more innocent and sensible than to take human sewage waste and spread it on the fields as fertiliser. Simple recycling, and supposedly the way Mother Nature does things. Or did, before we came along.
But what if that innocent sludge contains a cocktail of poisonous compounds? What if they get into the food chain, and come back to us? Could there be long-term effects on cancer rates, birth defects, or nervous diseases? George Monbiot of the Guardian wants some answers to these questions. [1] Because in the UK
…….Instead of taking their liquid waste to dedicated disposal facilities, chemical and cosmetics manufacturers now pay water companies for the right to dump their loads into sewage treatment works. In other words, two completely different waste streams – human excrement and industrial effluent – are being deliberately and irremediably mixed……..
And George goes on to list a a whole raft of nasties including polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, phthalates, antibiotics(look, it’s our old favourite!), microplastics, and many more.
We choose our article of the week because it tells us something we didn’t know before we read it. Something potentially significant. something that might affect you, gentle reader. Because although this article is Anglocentric, we seriously doubt that the UK is the only, or the worst, offender. And it teaches us all this final lesson: just because someone appears to be doing the right thing, you still need to look very carefully to make sure. George raises so many long term questions, you just have to look at this one, gentle readers
#fertiliser #pollution #sewage #toxins #food chain
Learning, Science and Society 