Washington State Fertilizer Study

-

Study: Fertilizer use in Wash. no risk to humans

By COOKSON BEECHER Capital Press Staff Writer, The Capital Press , 12/4/98

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Fertilizer use in Washington state poses no immediate risk to human health, according to preliminary findings released this week by the state's Department of Ecology.

That conclusion is based on recent studies conducted by Ecology, in cooperation with the state's Agriculture and Health departments. The studies focused on heavy metals and dioxins in fertilizers as well as levels of heavy metals in agricultural soils.

The studies did reveal, however, that there are heavy metals and dioxins in some of the fertilizers used in this state.

And at the same time, a new study of heavy metals in agricultural soils in the Columbia Basin indicate that except for mercury, average metal concentrations were higher in the agricultural samples than in the non-agricultural samples.

But only cadmium and zinc concentrations showed a statistically significant increase in agricultural samples when compared to background samples.

Even so, levels of those two metals were still at the low end of a range of background levels established in earlier studies done by Ecology.

"Research indicates we don't have immediate concerns about build up," said Ecology official Ron Langley. "But it is occurring, and we need to keep an eye on it."

"We're a long ways from having a problem," said Dennis Bowhay, a senior analyst with Ecology's hazardous waste program. "We have time to make sure we don't ever have a problem."

State Health Department officials are heartened by these preliminary findings.

"We have yet to see evidence that human health is threatened by the fertilizers used on farmland in Washington," said Jim O. White.

Nonetheless, Health Department officials do want to see further soil testing done periodically.

"It is very important that we continue to monitor metals and dioxins to ensure that such a threat does not appear in the future," said White.

Farm groups and fertilizer representatives were also pleased that Ecology's preliminary findings confirm that the use of fertilizers does not load the land with poisons or pose a threat to human health.

And like Ecology and Health officials, they endorse further monitoring to make sure levels of heavy metals in the soil do not become a concern in the future.

"This is a positive note for us," said Steve Appel, president of the Washington State Farm Bureau. "We supported the state's new fertilizer bill because we felt farmers need to know that what they're putting on their land is safe."

Paul La Croix, who represents several growers' groups in the state, also described the findings as good news for the industry. And he, too, likes the idea of further monitoring.

"We would not want to see our resource, the land, contaminated in any way," he said.

The fertilizer industry lined up with the farm groups, saying that the preliminary findings prove that fertilizers used in this state are safe.

"We've maintained all along that the low levels of metals found in our members' products are not a risk to human health or the environment," said a press release issued by FAR WEST Fertilizer & AgriChemical Association.

But the Washington Toxics Coalition reacted with alarm at Ecology's preliminary findings, saying that the studies prove that high levels of lead and dioxins are still in some fertilizers, despite the state's fertilizer reform bill passed last year.

"Lead and dioxins are poisons that can build up in the environment, contaminate our food and pose threats to our children's health," said Laurie Valeriano, policy analyst for the coalition. "It's really disturbing how they continue to downplay the problem and the significance of the problem."

Earlier this year, the state passed the first law in the nation setting standards for heavy metals allowed in fertilizers.

The push for fertilizer reform came when the public and farmers learned that waste byproducts containing heavy metals and sometimes dioxins are added to some of the fertilizer products widely used in agriculture.

Under the new fertilizer bill, the state's standards for heavy metals in fertilizers are now based on the Canadian standards for fertilizers.

The issue of dioxins was not addressed in the state's new legislation, although state officials point out that fertilizer reform is still evolving and that an amendment, or amendents, could be added to the bill.

As part of the new legislation, Ecology was directed to conduct various fertilizer and soil studies and in addition took the initiative to conduct several additional studies.

The department released its preliminary findings this week because it had to meet a Nov. 30 deadline set by the Legislature. It expects to have a final report ready this spring, which it will share with experts in the field and with the state's Fertilizer Advisory Workgroup. The group is made up of representatives from agriculture, environmental and labor groups, the fertilizer industry, and government agencies.

Meanwhile, a study on plant uptake of heavy metals is still under way, with the final results several years away.

Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New

-

Study results from fertilizer and soil tests

Here are some of other preliminary findings of the studies:

øAs part of its testing, Ecology studied metals and dioxins in 51 fertilizers to help the state determine how adequate the new fertilizer law is.

Seven of the 51 randomly selected garden and farm fertilizers didn't meet the state's new standard for cadmium, a heavy metal associated with kidney disease.

Cadmium is a tag-along metal in recycled steel-mill flue dust and is also present when rock phosphate, an important source of phosphorous, is mined.

Of those seven fertilizer products, five were probably manufactured from industrial wastes, and therefore would be subject to the state's stricter hazardous waste regulations. If so, they could be taken off the shelves unless the manufacturers reformulate them.

øAlthough most fertilizers tested had non-detectable or very low levels of dioxins, three of the fertilizers had significantly higher concentrations of dioxins than the other products in the study. Ecology officials believe those were probably made with steel-mill flue dust, which, due to a federal exemption from the hazardous waste laws, cannot be regulated.

Steel-mill flue dust is a source of zinc, an important plant micronutrient.

øDioxins are found in non-agricultural soils throughout the state at levels similar to those found in soils of other parts of the world. As expected, the highest levels were found in urban areas. And Western Washington's open areas, prairies, rangeland and forested areas have higher levels of dioxins than similar areas in Eastern Washington.

But because farmers feared liability problems should their soils contain dioxins, none allowed such sampling on their agricultural land. The state Legislature may be asked to consider making the locations of any soil testing for dioxins confidential so that agricultural soils can be studied in 1999.

Soil samples from research stations across the state were not used in these dioxin studies.

øEcology expects to know which of the fertilizer products tested were made with recycled waste byproducts by the time it releases its final report this spring.

Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New

-

Wash. state study reveals heavy metals, dioxins in fertilizers

By COOKSON BEECHER Capital Press Staff Writer, The Capital Press , 12/4/98

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington state farmers are understandably concerned about the cost and availability of some widely used fertilizers if the state takes action on those that contain high enough levels of dioxins or cadmium to pose a possible threat to human health.

Zinc-related issues. As a result of the state's recent studies on fertilizers, the Department of Ecology will propose the elimination of a federal exemption from hazardous-waste regulations for steel mill flue dust.

The dust is an important source of zinc, but also contains tag-along toxics such as lead and cadmium, as well as dioxins.

For agriculture, the concern is that if the dust is banned from fertilizers, it would mean the loss of an important source of zinc and therefore considerably higher fertilizer costs.

So essential is zinc to crop production in this state that even the organic industry is allowed to use zinc-based fertilizers made from waste byproducts.

When looking for alternate sources, industry officials point out that in almost all cases, zinc is the result of a manufacturing process - although not always related to steel mills. There are no zinc mines where it can be extracted as a pure product.

The proposed change targeted at eliminating the exemption for steel-mill flue dust would be done by rule-making on the part of the Ecology Department, not through legislation. As such, it must go through a formal public process, which would include public hearings.

And though the proposed change, if adopted, would apply to Washington state only, the Sierra Club and the Washington Toxics Coalition this week filed a legal challenge intended to repeal the federal hazardous waste exemption nationwide.

"This should be the final nail in the coffin for steel mill waste," said Laurie Valeriano, policy analyst for the coalition, referring to the state's preliminary findings involving dioxins in some fertilizers and its proposal to eliminate the exemption. "We are glad that the state is moving to close the loophole for this waste in Washington state, but it is clear that steel mill waste should not be used for fertilizer anywhere in the country, and that is why we have filed this challenge."

Earlier this year, Ecology officials admitted to being surprised by the levels of dioxins found in some of the waste-derived fertilizers they tested.

Dioxins are colorless, odorless byproducts suspected of causing cancer and reproductive problems. They can result from such manufacturing processes as waste incineration, steel production, pulp and paper manufacturing and oil refining.

Several of the tested zinc-based products that contained steel-mill flue dust were manufactured by an Eastern Washington fertilizer company that obtains the dust from pollution control devices in two Oregon mills.

Agricultural officials point out that several other fertilizer manufacturers in this state - as well as others across the nation - also buy steel-mill dust for zinc-based fertilizer products.

With a keen awareness of agriculture's dependence on zinc, Ecology is hoping to obtain information from the Agriculture Department about the cost of other zinc sources.

"This is necessary for rule making," said Ecology official Dennis Bowhay, explaining that the economic impact on agriculture needs to be considered in the process of deciding whether or not to eliminate the federal exemption. "Clearly there are other commercial agricultural products available, but the question is cost."

øPhosphorous-related issues. Agriculture Department official Ted Maxwell said that cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause kidney problems, is a contaminant that's found in fairly high levels in rock phosphate fertilizers used in this state.

Rock phosphate is an important source of phosphorus, which is one of the three primary nutrients needed for good crop production.

In the recent state studies, preliminary findings revealed that seven of the 51 fertilizers tested for heavy metals did not meet the new state standard for cadmium.

Five of the seven are likely to have been manufactured from industrial waste. If this proves to be true, they would have to be removed from the shelves or reformulated to reduce cadmium levels.

Those not made with waste byproducts could be relabeled with reduced application rates, which, in turn, would decrease the amount of cadmium applied to the soil.

Larry Bonczkowsky, agronomy manager for Agrium, a fertilizer company in Southeast Idaho, explained that the rock phosphate mined in Idaho and used in fertilizers sold in this region of the nation naturally contains cadmium.

And though the technology is there to separate the cadmium out, it's not to the point that it's economically feasible to do so.

"I think we'll get there," he said, "but we're not there yet."

Finding another source of mined rock phosphate is not in the cards, he said, primarily because the mine in Utah has limited supplies and another one in Florida is just too far away to be able to transport the quantities at a practical cost.

"Phosphorous is a necessary plant nutrient," he said. "If the expense is too great, it would be a tremendous burden on the Washington farmer. But if you don't put phosphate on, you won't be in farming, because within the first five years, you'll see a tremendous drop in production levels."

Back to top