Isobel Tomlinson

WARNING! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in "biosolids." Join the Food Rights Network.

Isobel Tomlinson was a graduate of the MSc in Environment, Science and Society at the University College London (UCL). She completed her research on the development of organic food policy in the UK, which was funded by an ESRC Studentship. She currently works for the Soil Association [1].

On November 29, 2010, the Soil Association issued a major report authored by Dr. Isobel Tomlinson titled "A rock and a hard place: Peak phosphorus and the threat to our food security." [2]. On page 3 the report advocated that the ban on using toxic sewage sludge for growing organic food be reconsidered. It stated: "In the UK, the majority of treated sewage sludge (biosolids) is retunred to land. At present time EU organic regulations prohibit the use of such biosolids due to historical concerns about the toxic effects of heavy metals... Heavy metal levels have declined in recent years, and are now low enough for the organic movement to reconsider allowing treated sewage sludge to be used where it meets strict standards."

Lord Peter Melchett, a consultant to Burson-Marsteller Public Relations, is the Policy Director of the Soil Association. Burson-Marsteller's parent firm, WPP Group, has as a client [3] Carlyle Group, a private corporation whose Synagro subsidiary is the world's largest processor of toxic sewage sludge.

PDF of "A Rock and a Hard Place"

Attached here is the PDF of the Soil Association report of November 29, 2010: [4]