Home Fertilizers: Tests Find Some Safe, Some Not

THE TIMES RECENTLY TESTED 20 home-fertilizer products against standards set in a new state law that takes effect next month and against the stricter requirements environmentalists had wanted. Today, we bring you the results.

Bronson Swanson knew all about the nasty stuff in some farm fertilizers. He had read newspaper accounts of how farmers had unwittingly covered their fields with toxic wastes from steel mills, aluminum plants and tire incinerators.

So when it came time to sow his own garden this spring in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, the letter carrier wondered:

What's in the fertilizers on hardware-store shelves?

When Swanson looked at the bags and boxes of lawn and garden food, he couldn't tell. Manufacturers are required only to list the nutrient ingredients - not any potentially harmful ones.

But Swanson's a determined sort.

He went to Eagle Hardware and got the phone number for the distributor of the fertilizer he was considering, Pace International of Kirkland.

"I called them and they said no, no, no, absolutely not, quote-unquote, they do not put any toxic materials in it at all."

So Swanson bought a Pace product, nourishing his tiny vegetable starts - and his peace of mind.

But that peace was based in ignorance. Swanson had been misled.

One common Pace product, Nu Life All Purpose Trace Elements, is a granulated mixture of acid and metal-smelter hazardous waste. Pace buys the material from the nation's leading purveyor of waste-based fertilizer, Frit Industries of Ozark, Ala.

After The Seattle Times revealed last year that heavy industries were recycling hazardous wastes into farm fertilizers, the newspaper got lots of calls from home gardeners concerned about what was in the products they were using.

To assist them, The Times recently tested 20 home fertilizer products. The fertilizers were purchased at local stores and delivered unopened to an accredited laboratory for analysis.

The results, like most information concerning the safety of fertilizers, are not clear-cut. But there is much of interest, not only for consumers but for the state regulators who on June 11 will be charged with enforcing the nation's first health and environmental standards for toxic heavy metals in fertilizer.

All but three of the fertilizers tested passed the new Washington state standards. But 15 of the 20 would have failed if the Legislature had adopted the standards environmental groups wanted.

At least half a dozen of the tested fertilizers contained undisclosed toxic chemicals derived from industrial waste.

Experts who reviewed the Times' findings recommended that gardeners:

-- Watch out for phosphate, zinc and iron products. They are the most likely to contain toxic metals.

-- Use reputable organic products or crystallized fertilizers, such as Miracle-Gro, which dissolve in water.

-- Keep asking manufacturers and stores to disclose all of the fertilizer ingredients.

-- Be careful not to exceed the recommended application rate. That's the rate on which the products are tested, and a fertilizer that passes the test can be potentially dangerous if too much is applied.

David Eaton, director of the Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health at the University of Washington, said most of the products tested looked like they would be safe for home gardeners to use. However, he added, "There are a few products that do present, in my opinion, a potentially significant threat to human health and/or the environment."

Eaton said more research is needed to find out what's really safe for the soil and for crops grown in it. Meanwhile, state regulators haven't sampled many home fertilizer products.

"This is interesting information to us," said Ron Langley, spokesman for the state Department of Ecology. "Once our law takes effect and we have authority to do so, we'd like to run tests on a lot of these same fertilizers."

ENVIRONMENTALISTS WANT STRICTER STATE LAW

The new state law is the result of news stories describing the growing practice nationwide of industries making toxic wastes into fertilizers.

The waste can be called fertilizer because it contains some plant nutrients, such as zinc or iron. But it often also contains cadmium, dioxin and other toxic chemicals. Federal records showed more than 270 million pounds of toxic byproducts were sent to farms and fertilizer companies between 1990 and 1996.

The stories described how such chemicals in fertilizers were virtually unregulated in this country, in contrast to Canada, Australia and many European nations.

Environmentalists clamored for new regulation, and Washington become the first state to set standards for allowable levels of nine heavy metals in fertilizer.

But most environmentalists were unhappy with where those levels were set, insisting the law was far too lax. Industry lobbyists also successfully beat back a requirement that all fertilizer ingredients be listed on the label.

Up to now, the focus has been almost entirely on agricultural fertilizers sold by the truckload to farmers. But as the lingering sun signaled the start of planting season, homeowners, gardeners and landscapers began to ask questions about the hidden contents of the fertilizers they've been using at home.

They could get no answers from store clerks, nursery owners or even state officials, so The Times bought 20 common products and paid $85 apiece to have them analyzed by Frontier Geosciences in Seattle.

Based on those results and the manufacturer-recommended rates of application, the Department of Agriculture calculated whether the product would pass the standards.

Three of the 20 clearly exceeded the limits that go into effect June 11:

-- Ironite was so high in arsenic and lead that the Department of Health issued a warning to consumers on May 8, following questions from The Times. Ironite is made from Arizona mine tailings.

State officials told the manufacturer to change Ironite before June 1999 or it might be taken off the shelves. Meanwhile, officials say, consumers can use the product but should store it out of reach of children and pets.

The company insisted Ironite is safe. It is sold in all 50 states and overseas, but was banned in Canada last year.

-- Webfoot SuperPhosphate exceeded the limit for cadmium, a suspected carcinogen that is easily absorbed from soil by leafy vegetables such as lettuce and builds up in your kidneys throughout your life.

Cadmium was described in a medical text as "the worst of the bad actors among all metals."

Webfoot told state officials it was changing the label to have a lower application rate that would pass the standards, but told The Times it had discontinued the product two years ago for lack of sales. There was still plenty being sold at a popular local nursery, Molbak's in Woodinville.

Webfoot SuperPhosphate is made from mined rock and gypsum, not from industrial wastes.

-- Hoffman Iron Sulfate exceeded the limit for unadvertised zinc, which is a nutrient if it's spread in small amounts but toxic if overapplied. This product would deposit more zinc than any other fertilizer we tested, but it doesn't even mention zinc on the list of ingredients.

Experts said the results on some of the products that passed are also cause for consumer care and concern.

Nu Life All Purpose Trace Elements contained high levels of several toxic chemicals from industrial wastes but would pass the standards because its recommended application rate is low.

Some experts say that means the toxic chemicals in Trace Elements won't hurt your soil, while the recycled nutrients help your plants. But others say that doesn't mean it's safe at all.

First, the application rate - the key to the dose presumed safe under the new state standards - is widely ignored by home gardeners.

"It's well-known that homeowners pour on the fertilizer," said David Bartus of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. "They figure if a little is good, a lot is better."

Second, such fertilizers can be dangerous during handling, or if ingested by children playing in the yard. When the EPA studied five toxic heavy metals in sewage-sludge fertilizer, it found the highest risk was from children putting dirty hands in their mouths. The agency found children eat 0.2 grams of dirt per day from normal activity.

Finally, experts said, some fertilizers made from industrial wastes probably have high levels of dioxins, some of the most dangerous compounds known. But the new state standards don't include dioxins, and testing for them costs more than $1,000 a sample. They were not included in The Times' tests.

FIVE FERTILIZER PRODUCTS THAT PASSED ALL SAFETY TESTS

On the positive side, the tests highlighted some products consumers can clearly use with confidence of their safety.

Five of the 20 products would pass the strictest standards sought by environmentalists: adding no heavy metals to the trace amounts already present in soil.

They are Miracle-Gro, Peters Professional, Miracid, and two Lilly-Miller limes.

Of those, Peters Professional and Miracle-Gro crystals were especially pure. They contained less than 1 part per million of the toxic chemicals tested. Miracle-Gro had traces of zinc and molybdenum but disclosed them on its exceptionally informative label.

Smith & Hawken Organic Fertilizer, Walt's Organic Fertilizer Rainy Day Blend, Nu Life Spring Feed and Nu Life Rid Moss came close to passing the environmentalist standard.

Smith & Hawken just missed on molybdenum, which would be considered a plant nutrient if they'd listed it on the label.

Walt's just missed the cut for cadmium at 0.1 part per million above the clean-soil level. Owner Walt Benecki said he'd try to identify the source and remove it.

Last year, Benecki stopped using an "organic-certified" phosphate fertilizer after his own test showed it had high cadmium, and a mammal bone meal after concerns were raised about "mad-cow disease." He switched to fish bone meal.

"We're very aware of the potential dangers that exist even in natural products, and we've made changes to have the absolutely safest products we can offer," Benecki said.

Three of the 20 products tested - Smith & Hawken, Walt's and Nu Life Trace Elements - weren't registered with the Department of Agriculture, as required by law.

Three of the samples would not fully dissolve in hot nitric acid, which meant they could not be checked by standard laboratory analysis. Some of those appeared to be industrial wastes recycled into fertilizer.

It's hard to tell, though, what's inside or where it's from - even if you read the fine print.

Fertilizer trade groups say a curious consumer can find out all about the ingredients by simply asking for a Material Safety Data Sheet.

But a clerk at Molbak's said, "I've never been asked for one of those."

And even if you can get one, it won't disclose most toxic chemicals below 1 percent.

The laboratory found significant amounts of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in Nu Life Trace Elements, but they weren't mentioned on the label, the Material Data Safety Sheet, or the supplier specification sheet.

Some manufacturers won't tell you if they are recycling industrial waste even if you ask them directly.

At first, Craig Thompson, chemical expert for Chas. H. Lilly Co. of Portland, insisted the Lilly-Miller brand products don't contain any recycled hazardous wastes. But when pressed to say exactly where the zinc and iron came from, he checked further and then said the company had a policy against talking about the sources of its chemicals.

SOME SAW GOOD NEWS; OTHERS SAW BAD

The Times test results brought a range of reactions:

-- Federal scientists said most of the products appear safe, but some could pose a long-term risk to human health.

Rufus Chaney, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist and world expert on cadmium in the food chain, said he wouldn't use some of the tested products on his home garden.

Chaney, who often has defended the fertilizer industry, said products made from Idaho phosphate, such as Webfoot SuperPhosphate, are a potential "time bomb," especially in larger applications.

Alan Rubin, an EPA scientist and risk-assessment expert, said there is no way to tell without a lot more study whether the fertilizer products in the store are really safe around the home.

"A prudent risk assessment would assume people don't read labels, and kids are unsupervised," Rubin added.

-- Some state officials said the tests represented good news about fertilizer safety.

"We have no current evidence that fertilizers used on farmland or food crops in Washington threaten human health," six officials from the departments of agriculture, health and ecology said in a written statement to The Times.

-- Environmentalists don't want to wait for more studies. They want the new standards made tougher, toxic wastes in fertilizer banned until proved safe, and full-disclosure labeling required.

"Your testing shows how uncontrolled the situation is," said Doris Cellarius of the Sierra Club, a former member of Gov. Gary Locke's task force on fertilizers. "It is really sad that it will be so hard for consumers to find out the levels of heavy metals in fertilizers."

Cellarius said she tried to get advice from professionals on what levels were safe, but couldn't. "Maybe this should be a national warning," she said.

Jon Stier, director of the Washington Public Interest Research Group, was even more outspoken.

"It's appalling that parents must now worry whether their children are being poisoned when they play in their front yards and eat vegetables from the garden," Stier said.

"Given these test results, there is no way to guarantee the safety of home fertilizers or the foods grown with them."

-- Fertilizer manufacturers defended their own products.

Ironite Products owner Heinz Brungs agreed to remove several lines from the new label, including "Environmentally Safe," after state officials challenged the claim and a company study found possible problems from eating the product.

Ironite has hired scientists to test the arsenic and lead in dirt, plants and lab rats. The company also bought ads in 24 newspapers Friday and ordered new labels to warning consumers to keep it away from children.

But Brungs insisted Ironite is safe. He said the arsenic and lead are in a form that can't be absorbed by plants or animals. Ironite is made from a 110-foot-high, 60-acre mound of mine tailings by Humboldt, Ariz.

John Rowe, technical-services director for A.H. Hoffman of Landisville, Penn., said that company's Iron Sulphate product violated the new standard on a technicality because the zinc - although not mentioned on the label - is a possible plant food.

"Even if it's there, we don't have to claim it," Rowe said.

He added that the company doesn't advertise the zinc because it varies so much. The Times test measured 8 percent. Rowe said he expected 3 percent.

Gene Brandli, director of quality for Pace International, said the company sells its Trace Elements both to farmers (usually as a spray) and homeowners (as granules) with good success. And from his view, the micronutrients from industrial wastes are as good as they would be in a virgin product, and a whole lot cheaper.

But from where Swanson stands, the regulatory loopholes, salesmanship and lack of testing and disclosure just bring the problem home to to his back yard.

"It really concerns me," the Seattle gardener said, "that I might be eating vegetables that are soaking up these toxic chemicals."

Duff Wilson's phone message number is 206-464-2288. His e-mail address is: dwil-new@seatimes.com

Free copies of a 12-page reprint of the series, "Fear in the Fields: How hazardous wastes become fertilizer," are available by writing The Seattle Times, Attn: Reprints, PO Box 70, Seattle WA 98111. ------------------------------- Levels of toxic metals in 20 home fertilizer products

The Seattle Times recently had 20 home fertilizers analyzed by an accredited laboratory for toxic metals. Three of the 20 failed state health standards, going into effect June 11, which will permit adding small doses of toxics to the soil. Fourteen of the 20 would have exceeded more stringent standards, called background level, that environmentalists wanted but the Legislature didn't pass.

State limit: for a typical lawn or garden, expressed in ounces of toxic metal per 1,000 square feet per year. It is based on a Canadian standard (scientists' judgment of what is safe for animals and plants) and manufacturer's recommended application rate.

Background level: the existing level of toxic metals in the soil, as calculated statewide by the state Department of Ecology. Environmentalists had wanted to ban any fertilizer that would have added to that level.

Note: You can use the parts per million (ppm) from the test to calculate the actual amount of toxics that would be applied to your soil. Divide it by 1,000,000. Multiply by the maximum number of applications per year. Multiply by the number of ounces per square foot in the maximum application rate (1 lb.=16 oz., 1 cup=8 oz., 1 TBS=0.5 oz.). Multiply by the number of square feet to which you apply the product. To express in pounds per acre, replace the last step in the calculation with this: multiply by 43,560 (sq.ft./acre), then divide by 16 (oz./lb.).

Sources: Frontier Geosciences Inc., Seattle, fertilizer test results for The Seattle Times, March-May 1998. Washington Department of Ecology Report No. 94-115 on background levels. Molybdenum background level estimated by Frontier Geosciences.

# Zinc and molybdenum, if properly disclosed on the label and applied in trace amounts, are plant nutrients. If not disclosed or if overapplied, they are considered potentially toxic and are subject to the new state limits.

Complete results available on the Seattle Times web site, http://www.seattletimes.com