Auburn agronomist defends bio-solids
By Staff
Jason Cannon
Much has been said and much more written about the use of biosolids on local farmland but Jim Hairston shrugs it off.
Hairston, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System's water coordinator and Auburn University professor of agronomy, said recent fears escalated by media reports that U.S. drinking water contains minute traces of pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, sex hormones and anti-anxiety drugs are nothing to be concerned about.
"The sorts of people the media should be talking to are the scientists and others who understand scientific research, how it's conducted and how it relates to chemicals," Hairston says.
He says the same holds true for environmentalists and similar individuals who sow fears without ever bothering to consult the people who best understand the threats associated with these pharmaceutical residues – again, scientists.
Tim Reed, an Extension Specialist based in Franklin County agreed.
"The first thing I do when I look at a report based on research is to look at who funded it," he said. "I want to see if I can trust it as unbiased fact finding and you can usually tell that by looking at who funded it."
At the center of this debate is the use of biosolids – processed and treated human waste – as a fertilizer in farmland.
"What I'm asking is that the public keep an open mind," Reed said. "These farmers are hard pressed and this is something that can help them. It's something most of them want."
Reed said the use of biosolids is EPA approved and much research was done on cost versus benefit before it became a viable option. What has many locals concerned is reports that site "trace amounts" or "minute amounts" of contaminants have surfaced in drinking water.
"What is a trace amount," Reed asked. "Just because you can detect something doesn't mean it's unsafe. What were the levels? Were they at, above or below accepted standards? That information isn't in these reports."
Reed said contaminants in water can be detected in parts per million, parts per billion, parts per trillion and parts per quadrillion.
As an example, one part per quadrillion is the equivalent of one drop of water dropped in a cube the size of the Empire State Building.
As Hairston describes it, chemical exposure is something that every human being on this planet simply can't avoid.
"We live a world of chemicals," he says. "We're exposed to them everywhere, breathing them, drinking them, and even wearing clothing that has been dyed with them."
Even so, Hairston says this hasn't stopped some people from depicting trace elements of these chemicals in drinking water as a major environmental menace. He says years of scientific research have shown that minute traces of most of these chemicals pose no threat to humans.
"They conveniently fail to mention the dose-response relationship and that those trace elements are showing up well below the levels considered unsafe," Hairston says.
Reed said he's placed his faith in the hands of the experts who say the use of biosolids will cause no harm to the environment.
"I trust the scientists," he said. "It's their reputation that's on the line. They're the ones whose job it is to say what's okay and what's not. They have to run these tests. (Biosolids) have passed all the state and federal tests.
It's been checked out with the scientists. I'll trust in science."
