[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In Germany sewage sludge usually has a too high heavy metal content > to be used either in agriculture or in vegetable gardens. > > And you don't want to enrich your flowers with heavy metals. > > Reinhard Henning
MH wrote: Thank you gentlemen, I'm trying to understand. Speaking of heavy metals this report mentions - 2.3 The Price of Business-As-Usual ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH CONSEQUENCES Air Toxics Heavy metals, which occur naturally in coal and oil deposits, are released into the air during combustion of fossil fuels. The main metals emitted include arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel and selenium. Once in the environment, metals persist and can be deposited on soil, in lakes and in streams. Contaminated soil may present a health risk when directly ingested (by children) or indirectly ingested (by humans and animals) through crops that take up metals. Metal deposits in lakes and streams may harm fish, humans and other species that consume contaminated fish. Mercury poses one of the greatest health risks among persistent air toxics. Fossil-fired power plants accounted for roughly 33 percent of U.S. mercury emissions in 1995. [As quoted from pdf page 30 of] Repowering the Midwest The Clean Energy Development Plan for the Heartland [of the USA] http://www.repowermidwest.org 139 page, 2988K PDF > www.repowermidwest.org/repoweringthemidwest.pdf =========== Public Benefits of Renewable Energy Use From Powerful Solutions: Seven Ways to Switch America to Renewable Electricity, UCS, 1999 http://www.ucsusa.org/energy/brf.bene.full.html A Typical Coal Plant A typical 500-megawatt coal plant produces 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year -- enough to power a city of about 140,000 people. It burns 1.4 million tons of coal (the equivalent of 40 train cars of coal each day) and uses 2.2 billion gallons of water each year. In an average year, this one plant also generates the following: 225 pounds of arsenic, 170 pounds of mercury, 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, and other toxic heavy metals Trace amounts of uranium Also on this page is Figure 5. Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Temperature Change [for the past 160,000 years - does not like so good.] In addition, coal and oil contain air toxics-metals like mercury, arsenic, and lead. Although only trace amounts of these metals are present in coal and oil, they are difficult to catch using pollution-control equipment. Utility coal burning accounts for 40,000 tons of toxic air pollutants per year.[10 ] For example, coal plants are responsible for over a third of the 150 tons of mercury that are released into the air each year.[11] Once deposited in nature, toxic metals can accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals and humans. They can cause severe health problems, such as mental retardation, nervous system damage, and developmental disorders. Due to the accumulation of toxic metals in fish - some of it as a result of air pollution - 35 states have advisories against eating fish caught in lakes and rivers. Children and pregnant women are the most at risk.[12] =========== How Oil Works http://www.ucsusa.org/energy/brief.oil.html And as bad as marine pollution can be, air pollution from oil is even worse. Transportation accounts for half of nitrogen oxide emissions in the US, and a third of carbon dioxide emissions, and a host of other air emissions, including carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur oxides, particulates, volatile organic compounds, methane and toxic metals. These emissions contribute to urban smog, acid rain and global warming, causing health problems in humans and animals, damage to crops, forests and buildings, degradation of habitat... the list seems endless. Unfortunately, one of the worst culprits in causing air and water pollution from oil is not some large corporation -- it is each and every one of us who owns and drives a car. Gas evaporates as we pump it into our cars, and when we spill it on the ground, contributing to smog. Oil drips from our engines, and finds its way into lakes and rivers. We drive increasingly large and inefficient cars an ever greater distance every year. While car makers and gas producers bear some responsibility in reducing our dependence on polluting oil, we must also take some personal responsibility. The solution to pollution is you. > > Is Sewage Fertilizer Too Toxic? > > Living On Earth > > http://www.loe.org/archives/020710.php `` ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Save on REALTOR Fees http://us.click.yahoo.com/Xw80LD/h1ZEAA/Ey.GAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
