Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola<\/p>\n\n\n\n Farmers have used manure as a natural, nutrient-rich fertilizer for thousands of years. In fact, there\u2019s evidence that early farmers used manure to fertilize cereal grains and pulse seeds up to 7,900 years ago. They likely noticed enhanced crop growth in areas where manure naturally accumulated, then tried the method in other areas.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, many farmers still depend on manure to help their crops grow. This includes organic farmers2<\/sup> and those using permaculture and regenerative methods.3<\/sup> When chickens are raised on pasture, their manure is spread across the land and worked into the soil naturally via pecking and scratching.4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n This beneficial practice that works in concert with nature bears little resemblance to the use of poultry litter \u2014 or chicken feces, sometimes mixed with urine, sawdust, feathers and other materials \u2014 and other animal waste from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) as fertilizer. Yet, this latter practice is common, even among some organic farms.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chicken litter used as an organic fertilizer is considered \u201cthe cheapest and most environmentally safe method of disposing of the volume generated from the rapidly expanding poultry industry worldwide.\u201d6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n But a review, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, raises an important point \u2014 \u201clittle is known about the safety of chicken litter for land application and general release into the environment.\u201d7<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The research team, from Kyambogo and Makerere Universities in Uganda and the University of Florida, set out to remedy this. They conducted a meta-analysis of technical reports, conference proceedings, peer-reviewed journal articles and internet texts, noting that the available data was \u201cscattered and disjointed\u201d making it difficult to access and interpret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They consolidated the data they did find, however, revealing that \u201cdirect land application of chicken litter could be harming animal, human, and environmental health.\u201d8<\/sup> The review revealed, for instance:9<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The massive quantities of manure flowing from CAFOs amounts to a toxic sludge of contaminants, spread on fields used to grow even organic food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe key safety concerns of chicken litter are its contamination with pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, helminthes, parasitic protozoa, and viruses; antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes; growth hormones such as egg and meat boosters; heavy metals; and pesticides,\u201d the researchers explained.10<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chicken litter contains a \u201cvast array\u201d of antibiotics and heavy metals, their meta-analysis showed, including \u201chigh concentrations\u201d of cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury that \u201cpose serious health risks to animals, plants and environmental health.\u201d11<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pesticides, including dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, also contaminate chicken litter, as do growth and sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Growth hormones have a harmful effect on reproduction in fish and other aquatic organisms, and may persist in the environment for more than two years after they\u2019re excreted in chicken litter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis persistence increases the potential of the hormones reaching surface water bodies through runoff,\u201d according to the team.12<\/sup> Further, they noted, \u201cThe chlorinated antibiotic and pesticide residues detected in chicken litter are worryingly high. These chemicals are persistent, carcinogenic, and release dioxin when contaminated litter is burnt.\u201d13<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines were the classes most widely detected. While some antibiotics degrade in soil within about 30 days, others persist and may harm microorganisms and soil fertility. Some antibiotics can also be absorbed into food crops, like green onions, cabbage and corn, from the soil. The analysis noted:14<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe presence of antibiotics, especially those that kill pathogens in chicken litter and are broad spectrum, may distort major biological processes in soil upon application of the litter, including development of antibiotic resistance, which can affect humans, livestock, fish, and wildlife \u2026 Human consumption of antibiotics-contaminated foods can increase antibiotic resistance, leading to food poisoning or allergies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Despite this, they added, \u201cThere are no standards set specifically for chicken litter for most of its known contaminants. Even where standards exist for related products such as compost, there is wide variation across countries and bodies mandated to set standards for safe disposal of organic wastes.\u201d15<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n An article posted by Washington State University described using CAFO manure on small farms as a tool to turn a \u201cliability to an asset.\u201d16<\/sup> But even putting the contamination issues aside, the amount of waste generated by CAFOs is massive. In the U.S., 1.37 billion tons of solid animal waste are produced every year. That\u2019s 130 times more than the amount of human waste generated annually.17<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Often, the waste is held in \u201clagoons\u201d that are meant to be impenetrable. But even under the best circumstances, the lagoons may leak, seeping millions of gallons of waste a year into neighboring soil and groundwater.18<\/sup> Waste may also be sprayed onto nearby \u201csprayfields,\u201d creating more environmental destruction. Natural Resources Defense Council explained:19<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople living near factory farms are placed at risk. Hundreds of gases are emitted by lagoons and the irrigation pivots associated with sprayfields, including ammonia (a toxic form of nitrogen), hydrogen sulfide, and methane. The accumulation of gases formed in the process of breaking down animal waste is toxic, oxygen consuming, and potentially explosive, and farm workers\u2019 exposure to lagoon gases has even caused deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People living close to hog operations have reported headaches, runny noses, sore throats, excessive coughing, respiratory problems, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, burning eyes, depression, and fatigue. The pathogenic microbes in animal waste can also infect people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water contaminated by animal manure contributes to human diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, fever, kidney failure, and even death. Nitrates seeping from lagoons and sprayfields have contaminated groundwater used for human drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In cases of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Florence, which hit the Carolinas in September 2018, even more devastation can result. During that tragic event alone, at least 132 CAFO lagoons released pig waste into the environment.20<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Pork Council tried to downplay the damage, stating that solids are stored mostly at the bottom of lagoons while the liquids at the top are heavily diluted and therefore would minimize the environmental impact if they were to spill over.21<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, as noted by Sacoby Wilson, a professor of public health at the University of Maryland, to Vice News, \u201cYou basically have a toxic soup for people who live in close proximity to those lagoons \u2026 All of these contaminants that are in the hog lagoons, like salmonella, giardia, and E. coli, can get into the waterways and infect people trying to get out.\u201d22<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, CAFO waste is nearly always a liability \u2014 one that shouldn\u2019t be framed as an \u201casset\u201d for neighboring small farms. In response to the Washington State University article, commenter Michaelyn Erickson said:23<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey CAFO, is that lipstick on your confined pig? As a Permaculturist and small farmer, this doesn\u2019t sound like a solution at all. It sounds like an attempt by big agriculture to dump its waste off on unsuspecting small farms like me. I don\u2019t want your hormone-filled tortured cow excrement \u2026 that is your responsibility to deal with not mine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The overwhelming presence of CAFOs in the state of North Carolina prompted a civil rights complaint from lawyers with the Environmental Justice Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School. The complaint was filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for residents in three North Carolina counties.24<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The residents described piles of chicken litter that are more than 8 feet tall, waiting to be spread on nearby fields. \u201cThey stand there and start fuming off. The odor is terrible,\u201d resident Henry Brewer stated in the complaint. \u201cSometimes it feels like the flies are about to eat us alive \u2014 the dogs can\u2019t even live in the yard.\u201d25<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to a loophole in state environmental regulations, chicken CAFOs have been set up without any permitting requirements in North Carolina, and they\u2019re decimating low-income counties at a disproportionate rate. Civil Eats reported:26<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018Under state law, DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality] has to take into account cumulative impacts that are happening in a particular location,\u2019 said Fredrick Ole Ikayo, a legal fellow who worked on the complaint. \u2018But they don\u2019t even know where these poultry facilities are or anything about the way they are polluting the air and water.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In addition to violating residents\u2019 civil rights, manure from industrial agriculture is a primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus in surface waterways and groundwater, according to the EPA.27<\/sup> The resulting damage includes an excess of nutrients that lead to algae overgrowth, depleting the water of oxygen and killing fish and other marine life in expansive dead zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This, combined with the excess fertilizers applied to monocrops like corn and soy, sends a steady stream of nitrogen and phosphorus to both surface and groundwater, spreading potentially disease-causing organisms and unsustainable amounts of nutrients along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sewage sludge, a waste product that comes from wastewater treatment facilities, is also widely applied to agricultural fields as a fertilizer. Often used interchangeably with the term biosolids, the compound is just as unappealing as it sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When wastewater and storm water enter wastewater treatment facilities, the solid and liquid waste are separated. The solids are \u201cdigested\u201d using bacteria, treated, dried and then sent to landfills or used for agricultural purposes as \u201cfertilizer.\u201d In the U.S., 54% of sewage sludge biosolids are used for so-called \u201cbeneficial\u201d purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most often this means they\u2019re applied to agricultural sites, although small amounts are also applied to forestry sites, reclamation sites, including Superfund and Brownfield lands and urban areas, including park land. Broken down, it\u2019s estimated that 36% of biosolids are used for agricultural purposes while 28% end up in landfills and 15% are incinerated.28<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is, just like animals, humans produce a healthy amount of waste. How to dispose of this biosolid sludge is a vexing problem worldwide, so, theoretically, turning the waste product into a beneficial product like fertilizer makes sense, assuming it could be thoroughly purified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therein lies the problem, however. The Guardian quoted former EPA scientist David Lewis, who opposed the use of sewage sludge on cropland. Lewis noted, \u201cSpending billions of dollars to remove hazardous chemicals and biological wastes from water, only to spread them on soil everywhere we live, work and play defies common sense.\u201d29<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n As of December 21, 2022, the EPA detected 739 chemicals in sewage sludge used in the U.S. as a soil amendment.30<\/sup> Fortunately, unlike CAFO waste, sewage sludge is prohibited in organic farming.31<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Foods grown on soil treated with CAFO waste or biosolids are not labeled as such, so your best bet for avoiding them is to support sustainable agriculture movements in your area. Make it a point to only buy food from a source you know and trust, one using safe, nontoxic growing methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, small regenerative farmers commonly use rotational grazing of multiple species to mimic natural cycles. This keeps pastures \u2014 and the animals that live on them \u2014 healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This method also depends on animal manure to fertilize the soil, but the manure is not contaminated like CAFO waste \u2014 and it exists on a manageable scale that supports the farm\u2019s overall health instead of harming it. This is not the same as the industrially sourced CAFO waste that\u2019s sprayed over farm fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing your own food is another way to ensure what you\u2019re eating isn\u2019t exposed to CAFO waste. But be careful when purchasing potting soil and compost, as companies do not have to disclose when biosolids are used. If you see “Milorganite” on the label, however, it contains biosolids from the city of Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District \u2014 a national distributor.32<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And this is how the globalist elites with their megacorp, inhumane CAFO operations are harming our health through organic food. Not to mention when they use their captured professional organizations and regulators to weaken the standard so they can use the label “organic” on their own products that really aren’t. And they’ve been driving small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4420"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4423,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420\/revisions\/4423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-13.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStory at-a-glance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Chicken Litter Contains Bacteria, Viruses and Other Pathogens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Counts of pathogenic strains of E. coli and coliform bacteria exceeded the maximum permissible limits for land application<\/td> In Australia, broiler litter was contaminated with Actinobacillus bacteria<\/td><\/tr> Avian influenza, capable of infecting poultry, humans and wild animals, was also detected<\/td> In the U.S., broiler litter was contaminated with antibiotic-resistant E. coli, with genes resistant to more than seven antibiotics, including amoxicillin, ceftiofur, tetracycline and sulfonamide<\/td><\/tr> Salmonella, E. coli, Actinobacillus, Campylobacter and coliform bacteria were the most prevalent bacterial contaminants<\/td> Pathogenic fungal contaminants were also commonly found in chicken litter, including sources of aflatoxins linked to cancers and liver damage<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Pesticide Residues, Antibiotics, Heavy Metals Also in Manure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Trying to Pass Off a Liability as an Asset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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CAFOs Violating Residents\u2019 Civil Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Was Your Food Grown in Sewage Sludge?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Find Toxin-Free Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n