firstimegardener
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fruits grown in sewer sludge

Hi...I just received over 100 strawberry plants for free. My question is this...They were grown in sterilized (if that's even possible) sewer sludge. There are no berries on them now and their wont be until next spring. If they are planted in someplace where there is no sludge (my yard) will the nasty stuff be gone by next berry season? would the berries be safe to eat?

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Kisal
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I know very little about this topic, but as I understand it, there are much more problematic substances in sewer sludge ... aka "biosolids" ... than simply bacteria. I would be far more concerned about the concentration of heavy metals and chemicals such as drug residues that "sterilization" won't affect.

It's not something I would ever put on my food crops. The reason they put it on the land is that it's too contaminated to dump in the ocean, which is how it used to be disposed of. The theory is that the contaminants will be removed by the soil over a period of time, somewhat like the process of composting. The problem is, I don't think anyone knows yet how long of a period of time it would actually require before the sludge would be truly "clean". JMO.

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soil
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I was going to mention heavy metals and nasty man made chemicals. not too sure how long they would be in the plants, I personally would start them in pots and give them lots of compost tea to clean them up for a year, then in the winter, bare root and transplant them into new clean soil.

firstimegardener
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Thank you for the replies. I went on our local university web site and their master gardeners flat out said they should never be used on crops that are to be eaten. So, they went into our yard waste container. As much as I hated to do it, it's NOT worth my kids health. The whole reason I have fruits and veggies is to eliminate this kind of stuff....

Edo
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You need to be aware that some plants can take in pathogens and toxins through their roots. There is quite a bit within the literature on this. Sewage sludge contains pathogens as well as toxins and pollutants. The issue is that antibiotic resistance can be transferred from consumed plant material that contains internalized pathogens or their genetic information to your gut biota. This then sets up a lending library of antibiotic resistance within your gut and when an incoming pathogens later acquires this information, taking antibiotics for an infection may fail. This means you may be running around with little time-bombs inside you. In some instances, the newly emerging diseases don't wait for a switch of drugs. Some of these pathogens can cause death in a couple of days. You should do some literature research on this to satisfy yourself.
(https://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118601395/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) (Int J Food Microbiol. 2009 Oct 31;135(2):175-8. Epub 2009 Aug 6).

Edo
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Question, who is giving this stuff away? They need to be flagged on this. It is important for others to know that this give away program is a potential public health risk.

firstimegardener
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Edo
I had posted a need on our freecycle in our area. I love freecycle because it helps stuff not go into our landfill.

I had no ideal until I'd been digging around in this stuff what they had done. They used the term biosolids but I'd never heard of it. So, I came home and looked into it, but everything I could find was just confusing to me. I found that the EPA says it's ok, but they aren't always right. Finally, I found the link to the University's Master Gardener's web site. They say NOT to use it on any food crop. The scary thing is, many of the farmers in the larger part of our state that are full time farmers use this stuff.

At first, I was sad because the plants were just beautiful and I have a huge place I need to put them that I'd worked for two days to get ready. Then I realized the whole reason I am growing a garden (which is small right now) is because I didn't want my kids eating the garbage that is put into our soil and onto our fruit. So, they went into the trash. My grandmother said she would have burned them.

Thank you for the link. I am going to bookmark it so I can always have it handy for others. I hadn't even thought about the antibiotics until it was brought up here. I am so thankful they are gone. I'm disinfecting the containers I brought them home in too...

And at the end of the day....WHO would put C$AP on their food??? Heck, who would use it on their flowers? No offense to anyone here...but YUCK :cry:



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