Infamous Ohio Study
The study was not completed and no claim was made for sludge safety.
A partial abstract can be viewed at: http://www.deadlydeceit.com/WEF-PR.html
excerpt from National Sludge Alliance Fact Sheet 140: Panic at EPA
EPA and the National Academy of Science quote a third party abstract as the actual study
EPA's
Mehan says, "* Page 43 in the section entitled Economic Concerns
• Here and elsewhere, you discuss the concerns of the California Farm Bureau, but fail to note
that the Ohio Farm Bureau coordinated an in-depth study (in conjunction with the Ohio State
University's Dept. of Pathobiology) of land application of Class B biosolids in Ohio, including an
epidemiological study involving the general health of residents from 47 sludge-receiving farms
compared with residents of 46 control farms for EPA/ORD's Water Engineering Research Lab.
and Toxicology and Microbiology Div./Health Effects ResearchLab. in Cincinnati (the final report
Demonstration of Acceptable Systems for Land Disposal of Sewage Sludge was issued in 1985)
that found the health of the farm families on farms receiving biosolids was as good if not better
than the health of the control farm families"
Lets see. EPA and WEF doesn't do original research and now it seems they do not even read
any original research papers. It's a shame but the National Academy of Science doesn't either.
The first National Academy of Science scientific study also referred to the one limited epidemic
study on human exposure to sludge in Ohio, which was attributed to: Brown, R.E, and titled,
Demonstration of acceptable systems for land disposal of sewage sludge. Water Engineering
Research Lab. EPA 600/Z- 85- 062. Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Brown paper quoted by Mehan and the National Academy of Science is only a third party two
page abstract of the actual study. Even though animal health was not the scientific point of the
study, Brown stated in the seventh paragraph of the abstract, "Significantly higher fecal Cd
(cadmium) concentrations in cattle, and significantly higher Cd and Pb (lead) accumulations were
observed in kidney tissues of calves grazing on sludge-amended pastures."
That appears to be a very good reason why the study was never completed. But then again, too
many people dropped out. However, the study also noted that the World Health Organization
(WHO, 1981) reported a positive association and a cycle of infections of Salmonella from humans
to sludge, to animals, and back to humans where cattle grazed on sludge treated pastures.
(Municipal Sewage Sludge Application on Ohio Farms: Health Effects. Dorn, R.C., et al,
Environmental Research 38, 332- 335).
excerpts from National Sludge Alliance Fact Sheet # 138: Sewage sludge (Biosolids) is a killer
I think we can now understand why EPA pulled the plug early on the infamous 1985 "Ohio Health Study".
According to EPA and WEF sludge experts the Ohio Health Study proved sludge is safe to use as a
fertilizer on lawns and food crops. However, the field research was never completed. It would appear
that none of these experts have ever read the complete study, because (Dorn, 1985) actually said,
"Caution should be exercised in using these data to predict health risks associated with sludges
containing higher levels of disease agents and with higher sludge application rates and larger
acreages treated per farm than used in this study."
Yet, the EPA/WEF partnership used this study to justify promoting disease causing micro-organisms
contaminated sludge on pasture land as a fertilizer. The National Sludge Alliance read the study, rather
than the abstract, in 1997 and found that Dorn referred to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1981)
study which "reported a positive association and a cycle of infections of Salmonella from humans to
sludge to animals to humans where cattle grazed on sludge treated pastures. (Municipal Sewage
Sludge Application on Ohio Farms: Health Effects. Dorn, R.C., et al, Environmental Research 38, 332-
335)" (NSA # 109)
The Brown abstract has become the authority for sludge safety:
13.Dorn CR, Reddy CS, Lamphere DN, Gaeuman JV, Lanese R. Health effects of municipal sewage sludge
application on Ohio farms. In: Brown RE, ed. Demonstration of Acceptable Systems for Land Disposal of
Sewage Sludge Ohio. Washington: United States Department of Commerce,National Technical
Information Services, 1985.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2094821