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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Risk Assessment and Regulatory Overview of Sewage Sludge
ClearA review on the fate and effects of contaminants in biosolids applied on land: Hazards and government regulatory policies
This review examines the contaminants, including microplastics and persistent organic pollutants, that remain in treated sewage sludge (biosolids) when it is applied to farmland as fertilizer. These pollutants can accumulate in soil and potentially enter crops and groundwater, creating exposure pathways to humans. The authors argue that current government regulations on biosolid use, particularly in the US, are outdated and need updating to address emerging contaminants like microplastics.
Land Application of Biosolids in Europe: Possibilities, Con-Straints and Future Perspectives
This review examines how sewage sludge, or biosolids, is used as agricultural fertilizer across European countries and the regulations governing this practice. While biosolids provide valuable nutrients like phosphorus, the study highlights concerns about contaminants including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals that could enter soil and food chains through land application.
Emerging environmental health risks associated with the land application of biosolids: a scoping review
This review examines the health and environmental risks of spreading treated sewage sludge (biosolids) on farmland, which can introduce microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and other emerging contaminants into soil and water. The authors found that current regulations do not adequately address these newer pollutants. They call for better wastewater treatment, reduced plastic and pharmaceutical use, and updated regulations to protect communities near treated farmland.
Sewage Sludge in Agricultural Lands: The Legislative Framework in EU-28
This study examines how European Union member states regulate the use of sewage sludge in agriculture, finding significant inconsistencies in permissible heavy metal limits and a near-total absence of regulations for emerging contaminants like microplastics and pharmaceuticals. The core EU directive governing sewage sludge application has not been substantially updated since 1986. The findings highlight a critical need for harmonized, modernized regulations to protect soil health and food safety across Europe.
A Quantitative Environmental Risk Assessment for Microplastics in Sewage Sludge Applied to Land
Researchers conducted a quantitative risk assessment of microplastics in sewage sludge applied to farmland and found that contamination levels frequently exceed safe thresholds for soil organisms. Even under realistic scenarios, the microplastic concentrations in sludge-amended soils were estimated to affect 15 to 18 percent of soil species. The study suggests that regulatory limits on microplastics in agricultural sludge should be urgently considered to protect soil ecosystems.
Advancing sustainable agriculture through multi-omics profiling of biosolids for safe application: A review
This review examines the potential benefits and risks of using biosolids from wastewater treatment as agricultural soil amendments. Researchers highlight that while biosolids provide valuable nutrients, they may also contain contaminants including pharmaceuticals, PFAS, pathogens, and microplastics that could transfer to cropland. The study advocates for multi-omics profiling approaches to better characterize these risks before widespread agricultural application.
Application of the Sewage Sludge in Agriculture: Soil Fertility, Technoeconomic, and Life-Cycle Assessment
This review assesses the environmental, technoeconomic, and life-cycle aspects of applying sewage sludge in agriculture, addressing risk factors including heavy metals, microplastics, and organic pollutants while evaluating its potential as a soil amendment.
Sewage Sludge in Agricultural Lands. The Legislative Framework in EU-28
This review examines the legislative framework across EU member states for using sewage sludge as agricultural fertilizer. While sludge provides valuable nutrients and organic matter, researchers found it can also contain contaminants including microplastics, heavy metals, and pathogens. The study highlights the need for updated regulations that account for emerging pollutants like microplastics to better protect soil health and food safety.
Standardization: A Necessary Support for the Utilization of Sludge/Biosolids in Agriculture
Not relevant to microplastics — this paper discusses standardization of characterization procedures for sewage sludge and biosolids used in agricultural applications, covering quality, safety, and European regulatory frameworks.
Standardization: A Necessary Support to the Utilization of Sludge/Biosolids in Agriculture
This paper argues that standardized regulations are needed for applying wastewater treatment sludge to agricultural land, due to varying contaminant levels including microplastics. Without clear standards, land application of sludge risks introducing plastic particles and other pollutants into farmland soils and the food supply.
Application of Sewage Sludge as an Agricultural Soil Amendment
This review examines the use of sewage sludge as agricultural soil amendment, noting that while it provides valuable nutrients, it also introduces contaminants. Sewage sludge is one of the primary pathways for microplastics to enter agricultural soils, as sludge accumulates plastic particles from wastewater.
Potential Benefits and Risks for Soil Health Derived From the Use of Organic Amendments in Agriculture
This review examines the benefits and risks of using organic amendments like compost, manure, and sewage sludge in agriculture. Researchers highlight that while these amendments improve soil health and crop productivity, they can also introduce pollutants including heavy metals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and microplastics into agricultural soils. The study identifies sewage sludge as a particularly significant source of microplastic contamination in farmland and calls for strategies to mitigate these risks.
Microplastic contamination in sewage sludge: Abundance, characteristics, and impacts on the environment and human health
This review focuses on microplastics found in sewage sludge, which is often spread on agricultural land as fertilizer. The practice introduces microplastics directly into farm soil, where they can be taken up by crops or leach into groundwater. This creates a pathway for microplastics to reach human food and drinking water, raising concerns about the safety of using sewage sludge in agriculture.
Sewage sludge as a sustainable fertilizer: Promise, pitfalls, and future directions
This review examines both the promise and pitfalls of using sewage sludge as a fertilizer, finding that while it reduces agrochemical costs and provides nutrients for crops, it also introduces microplastics, pathogens, and heavy metals into agricultural soils with implications for food safety and public health.
Assessing metal contamination and speciation in sewage sludge: implications for soil application and environmental risk
This systematic review estimated that global sewage sludge production could triple to 160 million tons if all wastewater were treated to EU standards, and found that metals in sludge applied to farmland are predominantly in less bioavailable forms. The research is relevant to microplastics because sewage sludge is a major pathway for microplastic contamination of agricultural soils, carrying both metal and plastic pollutants to farmland.
Emerging contaminants in municipal sewage/sludge: occurrence, risk assessment, and treatment technologies
This review documents the occurrence of emerging contaminants — including pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and endocrine disruptors — in municipal sewage and sludge, assessing their environmental risks and current removal efficiencies. The authors highlight that many contaminants persist through conventional treatment, entering soils via biosolid application and waterways via effluent discharge.
Occurrence, spatiotemporal trends, fate, and treatment technologies for microplastics and organic contaminants in biosolids: A review
This meta-analysis examines how microplastics and organic pollutants end up in biosolids (treated sewage) and what happens when those biosolids are applied to farmland. The data show that microplastics are among the most common contaminants found in biosolids, raising concerns about long-term buildup in the soils where our food is grown.
Biosolids-derived fertilisers: A review of challenges and opportunities
This review examines the use of treated sewage sludge (biosolids) as farm fertilizer and the concern that it introduces microplastics and persistent organic contaminants into agricultural soil. While biosolids provide valuable nutrients for crops, the microplastics they contain can accumulate in soil over time and potentially enter the food chain. The authors discuss thermal processing and nutrient recovery technologies that could help remove contaminants while preserving the fertilizer value of biosolids.
Source, occurrence, migration and potential environmental risk of microplastics in sewage sludge and during sludge amendment to soil
This review examines microplastics in sewage sludge and the risks of applying sludge as agricultural fertilizer, finding that sludge acts as both a sink for sewage microplastics and a source when spread on fields. Co-accumulated heavy metals, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes on microplastics further complicate the environmental risks of sludge amendment to soils.
Stabilized Sewage Sludge as Fertilizer: Risks Related to the Presence of Microplastics
Researchers analyzed microplastic content in sewage sludge-derived fertilizer collected in June and July, finding an average of ~460 mg of microplastics per 100 g of fertilizer with fragments and fibers predominating — raising concerns about agricultural land contamination from sewage sludge application.
Emerging organic contaminants in sewage sludge: Current status, technological challenges and regulatory perspectives
This review examines how sewage sludge accumulates harmful organic pollutants including microplastics, hormone-disrupting chemicals, and pharmaceutical residues that threaten the environment and human health. Current treatment methods struggle to fully break down these contaminants, and the byproducts of treatment may carry their own ecological risks, highlighting the need for better technology and stronger regulations.
Microplastics in biosolids: A review of ecological implications and methods for identification, enumeration, and characterization
This review examines the presence of microplastics in biosolids from wastewater treatment plants and their ecological effects when applied to agricultural soils. Researchers found conflicting evidence about the extent of negative ecosystem impacts, with some studies showing harmful effects and others reporting minimal consequences. The study highlights the lack of standardized methods for measuring microplastics in biosolids and calls for consistent analytical approaches to better assess the risks.
Microplastics in Sewage Sludge: A review
This review examines the presence and fate of microplastics in sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants, a topic that has received less attention than microplastics in the water treatment line. The study highlights that agricultural application of sewage sludge is a primary source of microplastic contamination in soils, and provides a comprehensive overview of detection methods, concentrations, and the environmental implications of sludge-borne microplastics.
Assessing emerging and priority micropollutants in sewage sludge: environmental insights and analytical approaches
Researchers reviewed the presence of emerging pollutants, including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals, in sewage sludge that is commonly applied to agricultural land. They found that current analytical methods are improving but still face challenges in detecting these contaminants at low concentrations in complex sludge samples. The study highlights the environmental risks of spreading pollutant-laden sludge on farmland and calls for better monitoring standards.