statism watch

Carola Vyhnak, Toronto Star
July 12, 2008

Worries grow over ‘stew’ of chemicals spread on farmland

Feces, urine, vomit, blood. Synthetic hormones, heart pills, antibiotics, illicit drugs, Viagra. Bacteria, viruses, E. coli, parasites. Household cleaners, shampoo, solvents, pesticides and traces of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead, dioxins and flame retardants.

Each day, this chemical cocktail is piped from our homes, businesses and industries to sewage plants across the province. The water is filtered and reclaimed.

The solid waste that remains is turned into biosolids, more commonly called sludge. For more than 30 years, Ontario’s sludge has been trucked out to farmland for use as fertilizer.

Then in 1996, the province, which monitors sludge dispersal, increased promotion of the nutrient-rich goo to farmers as a beneficial alternative to chemical fertilizers. Officials insist sludge is tested and safe and that there are no documented cases of adverse health effects when requirements are followed.

But some rural residents who live near properties where sludge has been used have argued for years that what ends up on fields isn’t benign fertilizer, but a “toxic stew” that’s harming them and the environment.

“It takes the air out of your lungs and burns your eyes. It’s nasty, nasty stuff,” said Crystal Chordis, a resident of Corbetton north of Orangeville.

Country-dwellers exposed to sludge complain of a litany of ailments including respiratory problems, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, rashes, fatigue and pneumonia.

Ontario’s acting chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, says a clear link to adverse health effects hasn’t been established. He is satisfied that the practice of using biosolids on farmers’ fields is safe and says the process of monitoring possible health issues is “active and ongoing.”

…

In parts of the United States, several deaths have been linked to sludge exposure. In Ontario, several citizens’ group including those in Prince Edward County and near Orangeville have succeeded in halting or restricting sludging.

Sweden, Switzerland, France and Holland are among the countries that have either banned or introduced tougher standards on the use of biosolids as fertilizer. Instead, they are burning more of it in energy-from-waste plants.

Since 2002, Ellen Harrison, recently retired director of the Waste Management Institute, a research and training branch of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., has argued for a ban on sludge application. She expresses frustration over the paucity of health studies.

One of the few is a recently published report by researchers from the University of Toledo in Ohio, which found a significant increase in problems such as abdominal bloating, jaundice and weight loss among residents exposed to treated fields.

The 2005 study surveyed 613 people over one month and researchers also noted an increased risk for respiratory, gastrointestinal and some chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Four hundred and thirty-seven of the people surveyed lived within 1.6 kilometres of fields treated with biosolids, 176 lived further away.

In 2002, under pressure from concerned residents, the City of Ottawa commissioned a review on the health and safety of spreading biosolids.

Struck by the lack of medical information, the consultants concluded that a “surveillance system for monitoring health effects from biosolids does not appear to exist in any jurisdiction.

“While anecdotal cases are occasionally reported by the news media, few of these are investigated by trained teams of agronomists, engineers, toxicologists, microbiologists or public health professionals, let alone make their way into peer-reviewed research literature,” the final report read.

After a two-year moratorium, sludge-spreading resumed in Ottawa.

Full Story | See Also: Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens: health agency | Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser | Ottawa knew breast implants harmful, case alleges | Naturopaths Fear Proposed Bill C-51 | The tiny, useful particle that could also be a health problem | Farmer Surveilled, Raided for Natural Milk Operation has Trial Delayed | Homeless people die after bird flu vaccine trial in Poland | Government knew of HIV risk from imported blood | Canada’s C-51 Law May Outlaw 60% Of Natural Health Products | Codex Alimentarius – An Emerging Threat

CBC News
July 12, 2008

Toronto’s department of public health is advising teenagers and young children to limit their use of cellphones to avoid potential health risks.

The advisory – believed to be the first of its kind in Canada – warns that because of possible side effects from radio frequencies, children under eight should only use a cellphone in emergencies and teenagers should limit calls to less than 10 minutes.

“Teach them the ways to use a cellphone responsibly – to make shorter calls, to use other modes of communication; if it’s possible, use a landline,” said Loren Vanderlinden, a health department supervisor and the report’s author.

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Vanderlinden said scientists were dismissive of any risk years ago. But with more studies, she said, a pattern is emerging that suggests people who have used their cellphones for a long period of time are at greater risk of certain kinds of brain tumours.

Eight years ago, a government inquiry in Britain concluded cellphones shouldn’t be marketed to children under 16 because so little was known about the long-term health risks.

But according to Health Canada, there is no firm evidence that cellphones pose health risks.

“Health Canada currently sees no scientific reason to consider the use of cellphones as unsafe,” the agency wrote. “Health Canada is basing this conclusion upon the bulk of scientific evidence from …studies that have been carried out worldwide, including at our laboratory.”

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, which represents Canada’s cellphone industry, also said there is no need for anyone, including children, to change their cellphone habits.

“The state of the science right now from leading health agencies, including the World Health Organization, is that cell phone use – as set out in the guidelines – is that these devices are safe,” said Marc Choma, a spokesman for the organization. “And that is the state of the science worldwide.”

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