Because milk was an effective means of identifying the presence of chemical hazards there was no need to do tests on meat, MPI’s report on the tests said.
The ministry took milk samples from 20 dairy farms in April to assess the safety of milk from animals exposed to farmland used for the bioremediation of solid waste from petrochemical mining.
Samples were collected from 17 farms that had received petrochemical waste for bioremediation, either as a surface farm application or in a mix-bury-cover operation, where the solids were mixed with soil and buried below the pasture-root zone.
Three control sites from outside Taranaki were included for comparison.
Testing for a range of compounds and minerals covering inorganic and organic chemicals, most with known associations to fossil-fuel production and mining operations, were included in the surveillance study, which was done in four laboratories.
Four compounds or minerals were found at very low levels, while the others tested for were not detected.
The low levels of chemical compounds or minerals found did not represent a risk to consumers, the report said.
“Further, there was no evidence to suggest that these very limited detections in milk were due to exposure to wastes from petrochemical mining.
“This conclusion is consistent with the initial assessment and the findings that Fonterra have advised.”
It also reflected the outcome of bioremediation when undertaken correctly and with animals withheld until the soil had returned to a normal state for grazing, it said.
“As milk is a highly sensitive food matrix for identifying the possible presence of chemical hazards there is no immediate need to conduct further studies for meat.”
MPI operated a number of programmes looking for chemical residue and environmental contaminants in different food, with extensive programmes focused on milk, dairy products, meat, and other animal products.
Farms receiving petrochemical waste would continue to be included in the MPI national residue monitoring programmes, it said.
MPI would also continue to monitor farming activities and take them into consideration when reviewing the content of the monitoring programmes.
Read the full report at: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/news-resources/publications
