Fertilizer Used in DC School Gardens Highest Nationwide For Potentially Toxic Chemical

By Nathan Baca | WUSA9 | October 7, 2021

Read the full article by Nathan Baca (WUSA9)

“Tests conducted by the environmental group, The Sierra Club, show fertilizer used in local vegetable gardens may be high in a toxic chemical known to damage organs and suppress your immune system.

While holding fertilizer at its sprawling Southwest D.C. plant, D.C. Water Resource Recovery Director Chris Peot said, ‘I use it in my garden at home, we grow vegetables. I feed it to my family. I love my family. I think the rewards outweigh the very, very small risks.’

Those risks, according to the Sierra Club, include exposure to a chemical known by scientists to cause potential health harm to adults and children.

‘Several studies find that kids who have high levels of PFAS in their bodies don’t make an effective response to vaccines,’ explained Sonya Lunder, Sierra Club Toxics Policy Director.

The Sierra Club tested fertilizers produced by sewage treatment plants around the country for the chemical compound known as PFAS. D.C. Water created a fertilizer it sells at local hardware stores as ‘Cured Bloom Soil Conditioner.’

In addition to people’s home gardens, it’s used by D.C. Public Schools for their student vegetable gardens according to D.C. Water. Sierra Club tests show D.C. Water’s Fertilizer tested the highest for PFAS chemicals among several tested nationwide. More than twice as much as the second-worst from Quincy, Massachusetts.”…

This content provided by the PFAS Project.