To those of you who build your own soil and use so-called "organic" (IOW, not the "chemical" nutrients that come in a form already readily accessible to the plants' roots) amendments... Have you ever used a Geiger counter to check your soil, lol?
I have read that pretty much all mined phosphate contains uranium, and that it's present in phosphate and calcium phosphate products. Something on the order of 50 to 150 PPM of it in phosphate fertilizer ore (I think the average for other soil and rocks is 1 to 2 PPM). I've also read that (natural decay) byproducts such as polonium and radon are also found.
The first time I read about it, it was about cigarette smoking. The article stated that this was the primary cause of lung cancer in smokers - that it was discovered back in 1980 that an acid wash would remove polonium-210 from the tobacco leaves, but that the industry chose not to do so out of fear that it might make nicotine less easily absorbed by the brain.
But I saw an article a couple weeks ago about it in GMO foods. I read something about the absorption process being different (smoked vs. eaten), and that 50% to 90% will exit (through our feces) when eaten.
I was looking at someone's journal a few minutes ago. It was one of those "High Brix" ones, and its author was nice enough to post the link when I inquired about High Brix methods / information. Anyway, I saw that one of the things he used to build his soil was rock phosphate, and it caused me to remember the radioactivity thing - and to post this thread.
So has anyone checked their soil with a Geiger counter? I would be especially interested if they could also give readings of some random (but comparable in size/volume) bit of non-amended soil, such as what might come out of a backyard, for comparison purposes. And if their municipality adds fluorine to the water, what their tap water reads.
I have read that pretty much all mined phosphate contains uranium, and that it's present in phosphate and calcium phosphate products. Something on the order of 50 to 150 PPM of it in phosphate fertilizer ore (I think the average for other soil and rocks is 1 to 2 PPM). I've also read that (natural decay) byproducts such as polonium and radon are also found.
The first time I read about it, it was about cigarette smoking. The article stated that this was the primary cause of lung cancer in smokers - that it was discovered back in 1980 that an acid wash would remove polonium-210 from the tobacco leaves, but that the industry chose not to do so out of fear that it might make nicotine less easily absorbed by the brain.
But I saw an article a couple weeks ago about it in GMO foods. I read something about the absorption process being different (smoked vs. eaten), and that 50% to 90% will exit (through our feces) when eaten.
I was looking at someone's journal a few minutes ago. It was one of those "High Brix" ones, and its author was nice enough to post the link when I inquired about High Brix methods / information. Anyway, I saw that one of the things he used to build his soil was rock phosphate, and it caused me to remember the radioactivity thing - and to post this thread.
So has anyone checked their soil with a Geiger counter? I would be especially interested if they could also give readings of some random (but comparable in size/volume) bit of non-amended soil, such as what might come out of a backyard, for comparison purposes. And if their municipality adds fluorine to the water, what their tap water reads.