10.1021/es200566f.s001
Emily Viau
Emily
Viau
Kyle Bibby
Kyle
Bibby
Tania Paez-Rubio
Tania
Paez-Rubio
Jordan Peccia
Jordan
Peccia
Toward a Consensus View on the Infectious Risks Associated with Land Application of Sewage Sludge
American Chemical Society
2011
monitoring pathogen quality
community separation distances
biosolids pathogen treatment process
biosolids pathogen exposure science
Sewage SludgeThe science
land application
Infectious Risks Associated
2011-07-01 00:00:00
Journal contribution
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Toward_a_Consensus_View_on_the_Infectious_Risks_Associated_with_Land_Application_of_Sewage_Sludge/2634892
The science linking processed sewage sludge (biosolids) land application with human health has improved in the last ten years. The goal of this review is to develop a consensus view on the human health impacts associated with land-applying biosolids. Pre-existing risk studies are integrated with recent advances in biosolids pathogen exposure science and risk analysis. Other than accidental direct ingestion, the highest public risks of infection from land application are associated with airborne exposure. Multiple, independent risk assessments for enteroviruses similarly estimate the yearly probabilities of infection near 10<sup>–4</sup>. However, the inclusion of other emerging pathogens, specifically norovirus, increases this yearly infectious risk by over 2 orders of magnitude. Quantitative microbial risk assessment for biosolids exposure more effectively operates as a tool for analyzing how exposure can be reduced rather than being used to assess “safety”. Such analysis demonstrates that the tradition of monitoring pathogen quality by <i>Salmonella</i> spp. and enterovirus content underestimates the infectious risk to the public, and that a rigorous biosolids pathogen treatment process, rather than extending community separation distances, is the most efficient method for reducing pathogen exposure and infectious risk.