This article appeared in The Workbook, Volume 23, No. 2, published by the Southwest Research and Information Center.

American farms suffer the consequences of the EPA's false wisdom and weak regulations for approving, and even encouraging, the use of sewage sludge for fertilizer. Consumer's cannot tell if store-bought produce has been produced in sludge-amended soil which contains heavy metals, dioxins, industrial chemicals, pathogens and other forms of pollutants. Many communities, including metropolitan areas, are marketing their sewage sludge for agricultural uses either through direct land application or retail stores as fertilizer products.