[compost_tea] Re:Testing ACT

From: dkemnitz2000 <dkemnitz2000_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 22:39:33 -0000
--- Talking about ACT.  Compost apparently isn't tested for indicator
organisms...... Many labs aren't certified.  That is best option; use
a certified lab. What is WWTP;waste water______ _______.Dennis







In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Ted Peterson" <ted.peterson@t...>
wrote:
> Are you writing about tea or compost?  At any rate, we don't need
more than one State/Federal certified lab.  If that lab has
certification, a different lab that is also certified will get the
same results.  If you want to use a lab you haven't used before, I
highly recommend A&L Agricultural Labs in Fresno, CA.  If you want to
find different labs close to you, call your WWTP and find out which
lab they use.  WWTPs have to use State and Federally certified labs. 
>
> You can purchase tests for e coli and salmonella that will give you
trending.  E coli is used as an indicator bacteria.


<><><><><Without looking at old notes and textbooks(my disclaimer)
here goes:Coliform bacteria grow in intestinal tract of warm blooded
animals.  They are considered INDICATORS of feces and whatever comes
with it. I said previously we often had coliforms in the milk at the
dairy plant where I worked as QC manager in 1978.. In a modern dairy
cows lay around much of the day in fecal coliforms in the confined
lot 'til milking.  The milker squirts and dries their udder (if doing
what a good milker should)supposedly to  remove manure/contaminants
and uses a disinfectant as well, then attaches the milking machine.
Can you imagine a person late for break consistently doing this? 
Stuff from exterior and interior (mastitiic organisms,etc)of udder
travels right along with the milk to the bulk cooler, to the bulk
truck to the factory for further processing(like pasteurization which
supposedly destroys pathogens). ((justlove eating those dead bugs in
chocolate milk and ice cream?))
Why would we be concerned with manure in ACT made with non-manure
compost? Humans survive the milk coliforms(as in dead ones). Or are
we concerned with rodent dropppings? Lots of mice moving around out
there at night. Might want to check the federal register concerning
flour standards of identity.....If we're going to be so concerned of
soil amendments we might want to know more about the food in the
grocery stores and warehouses........Dennis

I have to research enterococcci however this old dictionary I just
picked up indicates it is streptococci normally present in the
intestinal tract that is often a cause of disease when found
elsewhere. And you know from the above info what it's indicative
of.Dennis







If you find E coli and/or salmonella, it means that there are
probably a whole host of other pathogens also present.  Kill of the E
coli and you probably also kill off the other pathogens. 





> <><><<>Depends on killing method and what's living there. Dennis
>





Labs are remarkably stingy with test results.  The best result you
are likely to get for any pathogen is N.D. or > .02%.


Ted you mean <.02%, I think.
Certainly N.D. is desired because you don't want the competition
sending a press release you have pathogens in your food product or
soil amendment. And you certainly don't want people getting sick from
your product. It could even be a little like blackmail. Dennis


  It means they are not deteceted




but there might be one somewhere in the whole mass you taking the
sample from.
>
> That is  sure the truth.  Less than a gram is usually tested and
assumptions are made from that small sample. Many times 1/1,000,000
of a gram is tested. Sometimes 9 or 10 grams are used.  Dennis








Ted Peterson
> EW/SOE
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: dkemnitz2000
>   To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 6:39 PM
>   Subject: [compost_tea] Re:Testing ACT
>
>
>   Since CTTF is so concerned about pathogens how about we send
split
>   samples to 3 or 4 labs, regularly.  Sample aesepticly,ice 'em
>   down,and require they be tested within 36 hours of sampling. 
Working
>   in a lab I don't see any reason to trust just one lab. Many micro
>   tests are subjective.Chemistry maybe not quite so subjective but
both
>   definitely depends on good lab procedure. Dennis
>
>
>
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Received on Thu Apr 22 2004 - 23:05:46 EDT

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