here are the heavy metal levels in the one with 4% iron

oops -- not sure if it posted correctly I'll try to link the site as well.

my objection is to the metals still in it, especially lead, which is at a level higher than what kids should be allowed to play in.

but using it around fruit trees is different from using it for veggies that will be sitting in/on it.

milorganite w/ iron

Arsenic 7.2000Available Phosphoric Acid (P2O5) 2.0000Cadmium 6.1000Soluble Potash (K2O)Cobalt 5.4000Calcium (Ca) 1.2000Mercury 2.7000Magnesium (Mg)Molybdenum 15.0000Sulfur (S)Nickel 40.0000Boron (B)Lead 120.0000Chlorine (Cl)Selenium 5.8000

Different sources report these heave metals in different ways, percent, parts per million (ppm) or billion (ppb), or milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) making it difficult for the average person to make any comparison or even know whether there is a problem.

We also know that plants growing in soils with relatively high levels of heavy metals do not take them up and the source of contamination from those heavy metals is the outside any fruit grown in those soils and that washing them well before eating will eliminate the metals, or eating the soil that is contaminated.

I have found most of those objecting to Milorganite are those that have not studied the problem enough.

I, personally, don't want to eat anything grown in human waste.

Who said anything about growing food in human waste? And what does that have to do with the original question?

triple- Milorganite is made from wastewater.

Rodney

Sorry! I guess I am confused. I always thought it was made from everything that got flushed down the toilet. There was a Milorganite factory in Philadelphia. Not a pleasant smell when going by in a car.

You're right. It's called the Eww Factor. It's made from diarrhea, vomit, blood, goldfish, hamsters, head lice, rat droppings, snot, and so on. All of that is perfectly well compostable down to innocuous organic material, but some people (me) don't like the idea of eating food grown in snot et al.

Even ignoring residual metals, in that respect it's all in the head, but it can be lodged in there pretty danged hard.

Given all the ewww factors, the metals (no matter how measured), and the questionable list of components I have never understood why anyone would intentionally choose to use it around any food crops. Especially with all the alternatives that are food-use approved available. It isn't as if it offers/provides anything that is not available in better form. And why would anyone assume the cadmium (or the mercury or the or the arsenic or the lead ) issue has been resolved?

Dave

Didn't it used to be labeled for lawn use only or not for food crop use?

I've done a moderate amount of searching and STILL cannot find out exactly what Milorganite is made from. It MAY be from treated and sterilized solids (sludge) obtained from sewage (btw: much of Florida's citrus groves are fertilized with such I read). Or it MAY be the microbial biomass grown in aerated wastewater AFTER the original sewage sludge solids have been removed (wastewater plants generate both types of "sludgy" solids that need to be disposed of). Or it MAY be from both sources. I see hints or claims of each mode in various places. If made from microbial biomass (produced from dissolved nutrients in partially cleared wastewater) it is probably least offensive to those of delicate sensitivities.

When I worked in the garden center near Philadelphia almost 40 years ago, we were told it was not to be used on food crops. It might have even said that on the label.

I just googled it. The label was changed in 1994. I found this in an Iowa University study. It says that the levels of heavy metals and cadmium have decreased enough in waste water for it to be safe on food crops.

It's a Type A biosolid (so is composted horse manure) which means that some of the vegetables available in your grocery store have probably been grown in it. Here's a quote from the Milorganite site. Note that "wastewater" is another name for sewage, "microbes" is another name for bacteria (feces are normally 50 to 60% bacteria), and that the process described is the nicest possible way of saying "sewage treatment plant".

"Milorganite is composed of heat-dried microbes that have digested the organic material in waste water. Milorganite is manufactured by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The District captures waste water from the metropolitan Milwaukee area, including local industries such as MillerCoors. This water is then treated with microbes to digest nutrients that are found in it. Cleaned water is then returned to Lake Michigan. The resulting microbes are then dried, becoming Milorganite fertilizers. The Milorganite program is one of the world’s largest recycling efforts ... Milorganite, like manures and other organic fertilizers, contains micro-levels of pharmaceuticals as well as household and personal care products"

What cannot be determined from the Milorganite site is whether (1) the solids from the raw wastewater (fecal microbiota, fecal fiber, toilet-paper cellulose, and garbage-disposal organic debris for the most part) make it into the final product, (2) or whether they are disposed of differently as primary-settled sludge, and the product made from microbiota grown from dissolved nutrients in the partially cleared wastewater after the initial settling of raw solids, or (3) both. Quite different possible sources.

One of the problems these days is the medications in waste water. Too many people and light industries and labs involved for me.

"the solids from the raw wastewater (fecal microbiota, fecal fiber,
toilet-paper cellulose, and garbage-disposal organic debris for the most
part) make it into the final product"

I believe that, other than the "Cleaned water ... returned to Lake Michigan" and non-dissolvables (like syringes and teeth), what's left IS the product. Their site is understandably deliberately vague, so when someone is being so nicely evasive, assume there's stuff they just plain don't want you thinking too much about. I certainly wouldn't: It's sewage!

Oops -- started catching up on this thread while having a snack.

I don't use it as a fertilizer but I do use it to deter deer who devour my flower gardens. Now I feel guilty for using it. I just bought a new bag of it after the deer decimated my holly bushes. Elisa_z5: YUCK!