ECOTOXICOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ANAEROBIC STABILIZED SEWAGE SLUDGE SUBJECTED TO SANITIZATION TREATMENTS

Sewage sludge and its management constitute one of the most important environmental problems. The introduced the Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC advocate utilization of sewage sludge in agriculture. However, this method is limited mainly by the availability of heavy metals and pathogens. An ecotoxicological assessment of sewage sludge doses applied to soil, recommended in the Polish Regulation of the Minister of Environment of 6th February 2015 on municipial sewage sludge, was carried out. The sewage sludge was added to soil in the amounts of 3, 6, 9, and 15 Mg/ha. The produced mixtures were subjected to physicochemical and ecotoxicological tests, involving the biomass and mortality tests of Eisenia fetida earthworms. The sewage sludge had a statistically significant impact on the increase in: electrical conductivity, total exchangeable cations, organic matter content, organic carbon, nitrogen and heavy metals of the considered soil. The impact on the biomass of earthworms was different; after 7 days in the mixtures with 3 Mg/ha and 6 Mg/ha sewage sludge addition, the biomass increased approximately by 1.3-fold, in comparison to non-modified soil. At 9 Mg/ha, it reduced by 1.3-fold, whereas at 15 Mg/ha – by 16-fold, in relation to the initial value. The studies indicated that the ecotoxicological assessment of wastes may be employed as environmental safety control measure of the sewage sludge application in agriculture.

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Ecotoxicological assessment of heavy metals in sewage sludge amended soils

Applied Geochemistry ◽

10.1016/s0883-2927(01)00042-7 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 16 (11-12) ◽

pp. 1405-1411 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

J.P. Obbard

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Sewage Sludge ◽

Ecotoxicological Assessment ◽

Amended Soils

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Content of PAHs, activities of γ-radionuclides and ecotoxicological assessment in biochars

Polish Journal of Chemical Technology ◽

10.1515/pjct-2016-0067 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 27-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Krzysztof Gondek ◽

Monika Mierzwa-Hersztek ◽

Bożena Smreczak ◽

Agnieszka Baran ◽

Michał Kopeć ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sewage Sludge ◽

Radioactive Isotope ◽

Vibrio Fischeri ◽

Thermal Conversion ◽

Radiogenic Isotopes ◽

Municipal Sewage ◽

Municipal Sewage Sludge ◽

Plant Materials ◽

Ecotoxicological Assessment ◽

Conversion Temperature

Abstract The aim of this research was to determine the effect of thermal conversion temperature and plant material addition to sewage sludge on the PAHs content and the activity of selected γ-radionuclides in biochars, and to conduct an ecotoxicological assessment. The pyrolysis of the mixtures of sewage sludge and plant materials at 300°C and such temperature caused an increase in the contents of 2- and 3-ring hydrocarbons. During the pyrolysis of organic materials at 600°C, the amount of the following compounds was reduced in biochars: benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3c,d]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, and benzo[g,h,i]perylene. Among γ-radioisotopes of the elements, natural radiogenic isotopes were dominant. 137Cs was the only artificial radioactive isotope. The pyrolysis of the mixtures of municipal sewage sludge and plant materials revealed that isotope 40K had the highest radioactive activity. In the case of other analysed nuclides, activities of 212Pb, 214Pb, 214Bi, and 137Cs were determined after the sample pyrolysis. The extracts from the mixtures of sewage sludge and plant materials were non-toxic to Vibrio fischeri.

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