Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 19, Issue 16, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191610246
Keywords
pharmaceuticals; sewage sludge; sewage sludge management; fertilizer
Funding
- Ministry of Science and Higher Education
- Central Mining Institute in Poland - Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education [11131012-344]
- Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange in the Bekker programme [PPN/BEK/2020/1/00243/]
- [AGH 16.16.210.476]
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Sewage sludge used in agriculture contains micropollutants, especially pharmaceuticals, which have a negative impact on the environment. Research is needed to understand the fate of these micropollutants in soil and their physicochemical properties to assess the safety of using sludge in agriculture.
Sewage sludge, produced in the process of wastewater treatment and managed for agriculture, poses the risk of disseminating all the pollutants contained in it. It is tested for heavy metals or parasites, but the concentration of pharmaceuticals in the sludge is not controlled. The presence of these micropollutants in sludge is proven and there is no doubt about their negative impact on the environment. The fate of these micropollutants in the soil is a new and important issue that needs to be known to finally assess the safety of the agricultural use of sewage sludge. The article will discuss issues related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge and their physicochemical properties. The changes that pharmaceuticals undergo have a significant impact on living organisms. This is important for the implementation of a circular economy, which fits perfectly into the agricultural use of stabilized sewage sludge. Research should be undertaken that clearly shows that there is no risk from pharmaceuticals or vice versa: they contribute to the strict definition of maximum allowable concentrations in sludge, which will become an additional criterion in the legislation on municipal sewage sludge.
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