Headlines today announce toxic algae blooms in Florida’s rivers and streams. The culprit: Fertilizer and pesticides. Crops grown in Florida are doused with a plentiful mix of toxic pesticides and fertilizer. Additionally Florida is home to many of the country’s fertilizer manufacturing facilities located near phosphate mining pits. The outpouring of pollutants from these sites: phosphorous, heavy metals, gypsum, radioactive waste, and other contaminants leaching into the rivers and streams present serious hazards.
This is nothing to take lightly, this is a direct assault against nature, the animal kingdom and a crime against humanity. The commercial and synthetic fertilizers sold at your local hardware and home supply stores are manufactured at these sites. Please do not purchase or use these products. These pollutants wash into the rivers and streams everywhere (run off pollution) from every yard, farm, and backyard where they are used.
Note, the fluoride in our water supplies, known as fluorosilicic acid, is from these phosphate sites–and if you know anything about fertilizer you have to question the safety of this fluoride source.
From the forthcoming Wecology Handbook:
DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR FERTILIZER?
Fertilizer presents yet more problems for our health and well being. It contaminates drinking water sources, creates aquatic dead zones, causes Oak Trees to perish, and contains toxic heavy metals and waste unfit for exposure to people or animals. Patty Martin, the former mayor of Quincy, Washington, discovered that fertilizer used throughout the United States is often contaminated with arsenic, dioxin, mercury, lead and other heavy metals. Industries involved with steel, iron smelting, petroleum refining and chrome plating have developed a unique relationship with the fertilizer industry. In order to bypass proper handling procedures and significantly cut costs, many of these processing plants send a heavy metal waste called K061—which contains lead, mercury, arsenic and more—to fertilizer factories. Through the past 10 years, the record keeping of hazardous waste like K061 has not been strict at manufacturing or at waste sites. Also, ever since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, Mexico, Canada and the United States are only shipping more hazardous waste across borders. We know some of it is ending up in our fertilizers, but where is the rest of it going? (see the rest when the book is out, or email me for the rest of the chapter wecologylab@gmail.com)
As shocking as it may be that is the green reality!
Links:
Wecologist 