Urban farmers growing vegetables to feed malnourished Africans may be unwittingly spreading disease with their wastewater

A new study has just confirmed that using wastewater to water crops is a major threat to public health. Now, there are even more questions about the safety of using biosolids, or biosludge, which comes from wastewater, to fertilize soil and crops here in the United States. The re-purposing of human waste for agricultural purposes is one of the biggest crimes against humanity ever perpetrated — and they’re doing it all under the guise of environmental concerns. Whether it’s wastewater or the biosolids derived from it, we shouldn’t be growing food in it.

After all, if wastewater is dangerous, one might surmise that biosolids — which are basically concentrated wastewater remnants — are not so safe, either. Indeed, many experts are already highly concerned about the effects of biosolids, both in the environment and in the food supply. Many of these concerns have been whitewashed by the corrupt agribusiness industry. Now that the truth about wastewater is finally being realized, the dangers of biosolids cannot be hidden forever.

Wastewater used on crops spreads disease

A new study led by experts from the University of Birmingham have found that using wastewater on crops in Africa is a major threat to public health. Urban farmers are looking to feed Africa’s fast-growing cities, but their use of wastewater sets the stage for pathogenic bacteria and drug-resistant microbes to spread like wildfire. Wastewater is popular due to its low cost and availability, but it may not be worth the risk.

As Science Daily reports, scientists from the university led an international team from Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Germany in studying wastewater samples from three canals in the capital city of Ouagadougou — home to 2.2 million people. Together, they found that the wastewater was a prime source of harmful pathogens and antibiotic resistant genes. The finding shows that wastewater poses a major risk in terms of spreading disease.

Professor Laura Piddick, from the University of Birmingham, commented on the findings, stating, “Using wastewater for agricultural irrigation represents a very serious health risk, not least as it increases exposure to faecal pathogens. Wastewater appears to be a ‘hot spot’ for antibiotic resistant bacteria in Burkina Faso.”

As sources note, some 50 to 90 percent of the antibiotics taken by humans and animals are “excreted as a mixture of parent drug and metabolite form.” This means a substantial amount of the active drugs make their way into wastewater systems, where they are then released into the environment. This is problematic in and of itself, well before the wastewater is used to grow food.

It’s not just the smell

Biosolids is the “politically correct” name for treated wastewater leftovers, also known as “sewage sludge” or “biosludge.” Many people have complained about the odor that these “biosolids” give off, but that’s not the only thing people should be worrying about.

While the industry has made many claims about the safety of biosolids, there is no shortage of experts who disagree.

Indeed, there is much evidence which shows biosludge is a massive vector for disease and toxicity — and that the sludge industry worked with the EPA to obscure the scientific reality of using chemically treated human waste as “fertilizer.”

Dr. David Lewis, a former EPA scientist, has blown the whistle on the government’s hand in faking the science on biosludge in the 1990s. Dr. Lewis was fired by the agency for voicing his concerns about the risks of biosludge, under charges of “scientific misconduct.” Since that time, Lewis has spoken out about the wide range of toxins, heavy metals, pathogens, and other dangers hiding in biosludge.

Mike Adams, founder of Natural News and creator of Brighteon.com, has also spoken out about the danger of biosludge. There is even a new documentary on the horrors being hidden in the soil of North America, Biosludged.

Adams has described biosludge as a “very severe problem that if not rectified soon will have a detrimental impact on our health and environment.”

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

TheSpec.com