"Florida is another step closer to paving its roads with phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill into law Thursday. ...The [Environmental Protection Agency] regulates phosphogypsum, and any plan to use it in roads would require a review."
It's bizarre to me that the EPA says (linked in that article) it's permitted to put this in food, but not in roads.
- "Since there are large quantities of phosphogypsum waste, the industry encourages research into potential uses in order to minimize the disposal problem. The greatest use of phosphogypsum is in agricultural applications. Researchers proposing new uses must file an application with EPA."
- "Phosphogypsum has been used in agriculture as a source of calcium and sulfur for soils that are deficient in these elements. When the phosphogypsum is used as a fertilizer, it is simply spread on the top of the soil. When used for pH adjustment or sediment control, it is tilled into the soil."
- "The activity of phosphogypsum used for agricultural purposes may not exceed 0.37 Bq/g (10 pCi/g). An estimated 221,000 MT of phosphogypsum are taken from the phosphogypsum stacks and used in agriculture each year. There is no limitation on the amount of material that can be applied and farmers do not have to maintain certificates or application records."
- "In the past, phosphogypsum was incorporated into a Portland cement mixture for use in road construction. The use of phosphogypsum for such purposes is banned under the EPA final rule issued on June 3, 1992, which amends 40 CFR 61 Subpart R."
Quite a bit of phosphate ore is naturally contaminated with Uranium which of course winds up in the soil and then food. Uranium is notorious for being radioactive but it is also toxic in the same way as lead and mercury with a toxicity per pound intermediate between the two. Potentially this is an energy resource
reply