Deadly Dust

There are nations where the dangers of dried sewage sludge are defined by their explosiveness, such as in parts of the UK, for example. In other places, the inherent dangers of dried sewage sludge and its dusts are described more in relation to human health and public safety, and in yet other cases environmental concerns reign supreme. So, which is it, or is it all of the above?

The URLs below direct us to some fascinating literature about sewage sludge-borne dusts, and the implied dangers therein, but no where do we discover a sound science-focused literature that discusses the concept of synergistic toxicity, as it relates to the disposal of sewage sludge on agriculture lands in concert with applications of pesticides and fertilizers.

I have searched, and have not found one study reporting the toxicity or toxicology of the combined dusts emanating from agricultural lands treated concomitantly with the likes of toxic sewage sludge from a POTW/WWTP (Publicly-Owned Treatment Works/Wastewater Treatment Plant [none of which actually treat anything]), along with animal manures, plus commercial fertilizers and any of so many pesticides and herbicides. Now, that’s a cup of soup to die for!

 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/risks-from-sewage-slud... 

 http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.analchem.5... 

 http://www.andritz.com/se-downloads-drying_technol... 

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/722356 

 https://books.google.com/books?id=JKia8ntQ8zoC&pg=... (Page 178)

 https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files... 

 http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/Health-Watch-3A-Sewa... 

 http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/10/sewage-sludg... 

 http://www.sludgenews.org/resources/documents/Davi... 

 http://dbwt.us/cbnswwtp/D9-Pathogen-Risks-From-App... 

 http://pfwww.kek.jp/acr2010pdf/part_b/pf10b135.pdf 

 http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-flame-retard... 

Where do we go from here? We are fully aware that sewage sludge dusts, plus the dusts of manures, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides kill people, lots of people, but where may there be regulations that are sourced from the essential safety/toxicology studies of the synergistic effects of these combined toxic materials? Nowhere! Not been done, yet we are exposed to all of these toxins at every turn, especially if we eat food, drink water or dare to breathe.

Forget not the toxic metals in all of these materials, plus the organic chemicals, vaccines and pathogenic microbes, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites, much less the prions and the specialty designer chemicals provided courtesy of the FDA and the illicit drug trade – it’s all in there to be air-disbursed to all who dare come in contact, whether they know it or not.

 

"Who are those guys?" What's in that stuff? Is it dangerous? Does anybody know?

 

Unfortunately, there is not enough money in the world to find out what's in it, so the human victims in the airflow paths and plumes are destined to be the walking bioassays.

And worse yet; there are disadvantaged farm workers who live directly in this atmosphere of toxic waste every day, equally so for the surrounding communities.

 

It's all farmland from here to the many horizons.

 

With endless trucks loaded near to their axels in transit. A spill here and there along the way reveals the toxic contents.

The arid agricultural lands of central and eastern Washington State, for example, are in fact arid lands by any definition, with a parallel characteristic of wind-blown dusts that not only deplete the soils, but ship them afar to the homes and communities slated to breathe this toxic waste, all “In Compliance.”

 

What dusts?

 

Can't see the wheat fields (or the trucks) for the dusts.

Sounds like a new project. We have identified the proper air sampling devices, and the sampling protocol, and the certified labs for analysis of the selected analytes, as well as the most adversely affected and dangerous locations to be sampled; they are just a sewage sludge double dump truck trip away. On the road again!

 

Yeah, right!

 

The sky is blue high over the wheat fields, but that far horizon remains a bit murky as the toxic dusts head in nearly any direction at the whim of the winds. That is not fog.