When industrial waste is recycled, a portion becomes fertilizer for farms, lawns and gardens. Last year, the Seattle Times reported on potential harmful effects of using industrial waste as fertilizer. The Times series told of withered crops, ailing cows and farmers with respiratory infections. The report quantified and raised concerns about heavy metals in industrial waste shipped to fertilizer companies and farms between 1990 and 1995. Free rein Fertilizer, unlike pesticides and food, is not federally regulated.
States establish their own standards.
Some states, like Michigan, set no limit on heavy metals in fertilizer, and manufacturers are not required to list heavy metals on labels. This saves industrial companies the cost of disposing of waste, and supplies fertilizer companies with a cheap source of raw materials containing nutrients such as zinc. But Todd Hettenbach, an EWG analyst who helped write the report, says the public may be paying with its health. Most farmers do not know whether the fertilizer they purchase contains heavy metals. People are now starting to look at it more.