Chinese organic fertilizer contains fifteen times arsenic as Glyphosate: Prof. Aruna Kumara

COLOMBO (News 1st); The organic fertilizer produced by China has fifteen times the Arsenic present in Glyphosate, which was banned in Sri Lanka some time ago, Professor in Crop Science at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Prof. Aruna Kumara, who joined the 'Mawatha' program revealed. Speaking at the program, Prof. Aruna Kumara enunciated the process of obtaining the organic fertilizer, as well as the process which it goes through and how it can be deemed poisonous to the soil. China has been a longtime sufferer of algae blooms, which had inundated the sea waters off Shandong province every summer for the past 15 years, lasting about three to four months each time. In 2008, Beijing spent more than US$100 million on a massive clean-up as the city prepared to host sailing events at the Beijing Olympics. According to Chinese media, this year the outbreak ran riot over an unprecedented 60,594 sq km and fully covered 1746 sq km, more than double the size of the fully algae-covered area in 2013, the second worst year recorded. According to the Qingdao Ocean and Fishery Bureau, the local Government deployed 12,686 vessels to collect the algae, and more than 457,700 tonnes have already been cleaned from the water. According to state owned media, the amount of algae collected could top 1 million tonnes. Reuters reported that the algae problem has persisted in the area for a lasting period of 15 years, which resulted in the residents of the are being inconvenienced due to the acrid smell of the area. What does China do with this algae? Prof. Aruna Kumara stated that China usually produces organic fertilizer out of the algae, which has been proven via research as a method not approved for the production of organic fertilizer, as the presence of heavy metals in the algae is high. Speaking further, Prof. Kumara said that the organic fertilizer produced from this algae also has no mention of how much potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. There is also no mention of the source of nitrogen for the fertilizer produced, which poses a large risk, he added. Is the manufactured organic fertilizer safe? According to Prof. Aruna Kumara, chemical fertilizer is applied at the rate of 55 kg per one hectare. However, organic fertilizer requires to be applied at least 5 tons per one hectare. If farmers add this quantity of organic fertilizer, then, the amount of cadmium which gets added to the soil according to SLS standards is 7500 units. He also stated that cadmium is one of the main pathogenesis of the kidney diseases besides arsenic according to a research conducted by Prof. Channa Jayasumana, Prof. Saranga Fonseka, Prof. Kumudika Jayalath and Engineer Ashvin Fernando. The relevant paper also highlights that over 2100 units cadmium is added to Sri Lankan soil per year due to fertilizer. Prof. Aruna Kumara states that if the 96,000 Metric tons of fertilizer are currently on the ship “Hippo Spirit” which is on Sri Lankan waters, is added to our soil, the risk of all Sri Lankans ingesting heavy metals in their diets is high. He added that Sri Lanka previously banned glyphosate because it contained 1.8 milligrams of arsenic per kilogram, however, the Chinese brown algae blooms have been found to contain between 25 – 30 milligrams of arsenic per one kilogram. “ Think about it, when this amount comes to Sri Lanka, it's more than fifteen times as much arsenic as Glyphosate could possibly put into our bodies,” he added.