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Potential for nutrients reuse, carbon sequestration, and CO2 emissions reduction in the practice of domestic and industrial wastewater recycling into agricultural soils: A review
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This review examines the practice of recycling treated wastewater and sewage sludge as agricultural irrigation and fertilizer, assessing both the benefits of nutrient reuse and the risks from contaminants. While recycled wastewater can provide valuable nutrients and help reduce carbon emissions, it also introduces pollutants including microplastics into farm soil. The review highlights the need to balance the environmental benefits of wastewater reuse with the potential health risks from microplastic and chemical contamination of food crops.
This review assesses the feasibility of reusing treated wastewater for irrigation in agricultural soils as a strategy for nutrients recycling and mitigation of CO emissions. Through a literature review, it was examined wastewater sources enriched with carbon and nutrients, including municipal wastewater and associated sludge, vinasse, swine wastewater, as well as wastewater from the food industry and paper and pulp production. The review also explores the dynamics of organic matter within the soil, discussing the aspects related to its potential conversion to CO or long-term storage. It was found that industrial wastewaters, owing to their higher organic matter and recalcitrance, exhibit greater potential for carbon storage. However, the presence of pollutants in wastewater necessitates careful consideration, particularly concerning their impact on soil quality. Toxic metals, microplastics, and organic compounds emerged as significant contaminants that could accumulate in the soil, posing risks to ecosystem health. To mitigate the environmental impacts, it was evaluated various wastewater treatment technologies and their associated carbon emissions. While advanced treatments may effectively reduce the contaminant load and mitigate soil impacts, their adoption is often associated with an increase in CO emissions. Membrane bioreactors, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors were identified as promising technologies with lower carbon footprints. Looking ahead, future research should aim to enhance the understanding of carbon dynamics in soil and validate the environmental impacts of treated wastewater disposal. Despite remaining uncertainties, the literature indicates a positive outlook for wastewater recycling in soil, offering a viable strategy for carbon storage and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
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This review examines the wide-ranging impacts of using wastewater for agricultural irrigation, covering effects on soil health, crop safety, and greenhouse gas emissions. Among the many concerns discussed, microplastics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria emerging from wastewater reuse are flagged as growing threats requiring better monitoring and policy responses. For readers interested in microplastics, the paper highlights how irrigation with wastewater is one of the pathways by which plastic particles enter farmland soils and ultimately the food chain.
Do contaminants compromise the use of recycled nutrients in organic agriculture? A review and synthesis of current knowledge on contaminant concentrations, fate in the environment and risk assessment
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This review examines whether recycled nutrients from waste streams, such as sewage sludge and compost, introduce harmful contaminants including microplastics into organic farmland. While levels of heavy metals and many pollutants have decreased in European waste streams, microplastic contamination in agricultural soil remains widespread and poorly understood. The review highlights that spreading waste-derived fertilizers on farmland is a significant pathway for microplastics to enter the food production system.
Microplastic contamination in wastewater sludge and its agricultural reuse risks, pathways, and management-a review
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Researchers review how microplastics enter wastewater sludge from laundry, personal care products, and urban runoff and then migrate into agricultural soils when sludge is land-applied, where they persist for years, alter soil structure, suppress microbial activity, and facilitate the spread of co-pollutants and antibiotic resistance genes.
Reusing water, reshaping nitrogen: Unravelling nitrogen dynamics in soils receiving treated wastewater.
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This review summarizes existing research on how treated wastewater used for irrigation affects nitrogen cycling in soil, including contaminants like microplastics. It finds effects vary depending on soil type, plant species, and treatment level, and identifies gaps needing further field and laboratory studies.
Occurrence and environmental consequences of microplastics and nanoplastics from agricultural reuse of wastewater and biosolids in the soil ecosystem: A review
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This review examines how wastewater and sewage sludge used in agriculture introduce microplastics and nanoplastics into farm soil, where they can persist and accumulate over time. Municipal wastewater can contain thousands of plastic particles per liter, and treated sewage sludge used as fertilizer can contain over 30,000 particles per liter. These practices create a long-term buildup of plastic contamination in agricultural soil that can affect crops, groundwater, and ultimately human food and water supplies.
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