{"id":34423,"date":"2024-07-11T11:00:13","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T09:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resoilfoundation.org\/articles\/bio-fertilizzanti-usa-contaminazione-fanghi\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T11:03:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T09:03:21","slug":"bio-fertilisers-usa-contamination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resoilfoundation.org\/en\/agricultural-industry\/bio-fertilisers-usa-contamination\/","title":{"rendered":"US bio-fertilisers are useful but watch out for contamination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Used as fertilisers, biosolids produced by wastewater treatment can be very beneficial for the soil. This is also why, according to a study, it is important to analyse their content to prevent contamination phenomena<\/h2>\n

by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n

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Fertilisers<\/strong> produced from wastewater sludge<\/strong> may contain traces of potentially hazardous organic chemicals. This was reported in a study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University<\/strong>. The research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, makes an important contribution to the topic of chemical analysis of so-called biosolids<\/strong>. The results, emphasises a statement<\/a> from the university, “could help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<\/strong> (EPA) prioritize which organic compounds to investigate further.”<\/p>\n

\"Stime

Estimates of levels of wastewater production, collection, treatment and reuse. SOURCE: Jones et al. 2021; GRID-Arendal\/STudio Atlantis, 2023.<\/p><\/div>\n

Valuable fertilisers in agriculture<\/h5>\n

Biosolids are a by-product of wastewater treatment<\/a> and can be applied as fertilisers in agricultural soils. “CWhile U.S. regulations limit metals and pathogens in biosolids intended for land applications, no organic contaminants are currently regulated<\/strong>,” the study explains. At the same time, “Novel techniques can aid in detection, evaluation, and prioritization of biosolid-associated organic contaminants (BOCs)”. These include the so-called nontargeted analysis<\/a> or NTA.<\/p>\n

Through NTA, it is possible to identify “a broad range of chemicals<\/strong>, producing data sets representing thousands of measured analytes<\/a> that can be combined with computational toxicological tools to support human and ecological hazard assessment and prioritization.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Combining this technique with a US EPA chemical identification computer tool, the Cheminformatics Hazard Comparison Module (HCM), the researchers examined 16 biosolids samples<\/strong> from wastewater treatment plants in nine US and three Canadian cities. With significant results.<\/p>\n

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New sewage management brings benefits to soil, EEA says<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n