Dillo Dirt
Encyclopedia
Dillo Dirt is a compost
Compost
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...

 made by the City of Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 since 1989. It was the first program of its kind in the state and one of the oldest in the nation. Dillo Dirt is named after the Nine-banded Armadillo
Nine-banded Armadillo
The nine-banded armadillo , or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos...

 (Dasypus novemcinctus), which is a mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 native to Texas. It is also a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

ed product
Product (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...

 of the City of Austin Water and Wastewater Utility.

The unique difference between Dillo Dirt and normal compost is that it contains treated municipal sewage sludge along with yard trimmings collected curbside by the city's waste management department. These are combined and composted to create Dillo Dirt. Despite this fact, Dillo Dirt meets all Texas
Texas Department of Agriculture
The Texas Department of Agriculture is a state agency within the state of Texas, which is responsible for matters pertaining to agriculture, rural community affairs, and related matters.TDA was established by the 13th Texas Legislature in 1907...

 and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for "unrestricted" use, which even includes vegetable gardens.

The heat generated in composting (130 to 170 °F (54.4 to 76.7 C)) is sufficient to virtually eliminate human and plant pathogens. After active composting for over a month, the compost is "cured" for several months, then screened to produce the finished product.

According to the City of Austin, Dillo Dirt contains levels of heavy metals including Arsenic, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Selenium, and Zinc. In a separate toxicological analysis of Dillo Dirt, levels of the following pollutants were found: Beta-BHC, DDE
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene is a chemical compound formed by the loss of hydrogen chloride from DDT, of which it is one of the more common breakdown products. DDE is fat soluble which tends to build up in the fat of animals. Due to its stability in fat, DDE is rarely excreted from the body,...

, Dieldrin
Dieldrin
Dieldrin is a chlorinated hydrocarbon originally produced in 1948 by J. Hyman & Co, Denver, as an insecticide. Dieldrin is closely related to aldrin, which reacts further to form dieldrin. Aldrin is not toxic to insects; it is oxidized in the insect to form dieldrin which is the active compound...

, Endrin aldehyde
Endrin
Endrin is an organochloride that was primarily used as an insecticide. It is a colourless odorless solid, although commercial samples are often off-white. It is also a rodenticide. This compound became infamous as persistent organic pollutant and for this reason is banned in many...

, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene
Dibenz(a,h)anthracene
Dibenzanthracene is an organic compound with the chemical formula C22H14....

, Benzo(a)anthracene
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , also known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, are potent atmospheric pollutants that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents. Naphthalene is the simplest example of a PAH...

, Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , also known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, are potent atmospheric pollutants that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents. Naphthalene is the simplest example of a PAH...

, and Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
Bisphthalate, commonly abbreviated DEHP, is an organic compound with the formula C6H42. It is sometimes called dioctyl phthalate and abbreviated DOP. It is the most important "phthalate," being the diester of phthalic acid and the branched-chain 2-ethylhexanol. This colourless viscous liquid is...

. Very few tests have been carried out on Dillo Dirt, so average pollutant, radioactivity, or carcinogen levels are generally unknown.

Controversy

Some opponents of the use and sale of Dillo Dirt claim that it contains above-normal amounts of heavy metals and fluoride
Fluoride
Fluoride is the anion F−, the reduced form of fluorine when as an ion and when bonded to another element. Both organofluorine compounds and inorganic fluorine containing compounds are called fluorides. Fluoride, like other halides, is a monovalent ion . Its compounds often have properties that are...

 which will inevitably find their way back into the human food supply. The city, however, states that the metal levels are well below the federal allowable levels.

Prior to the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...

, held at Zilker Park
Zilker Park
Zilker Metropolitan Park is a recreational area in the heart of south Austin that comprises over of publicly owned land. It is named after its benefactor Andrew Jackson Zilker, who donated the land to the city in 1917. It was developed into the park during the Great Depression in the 1930s...

 in Austin on October 4, 2009, the park's soil was resurfaced and amended with Dillo Dirt. During the festival, heavy rains created a large amount of sludgy surface mud, which some concertgoers claim caused them health issues, such as skin rashes
Rash
A rash is a change of the skin which affects its color, appearance or texture. A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, chapped, dry, cracked or blistered, swell and may be painful. The causes, and...

, but in the end no conclusive evidence that the Dillo Dirt caused any problems was determined. The local Austin American Statesman newspaper ran an article advising anyone affected to call the health department.

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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