Saturday, January 16, 2010

Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload?

Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload?
http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Safety/chemical/eaters_been_told_about_this_toxic_waste_overload_1601100809.html?print

"The U.S. government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil.

The material is produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions.
The substance is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health.

As you may know, coal-fired plants produce about 50 percent of the power in the US, and are a major source of environmental pollution. One of its byproducts is FGD gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum). Not surprisingly, the standard solution is to develop a scheme to sweep the problem under the rug and make money doing it."

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