Abstract
The agricultural use of good quality sludge represents a value-added route to ensure growth sustainability in Europe, where raw material availability, for example, for phosphorus, is insufficient to meet demand. However, the possible presence of pathogens, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals requires specific regulations to minimize sludge-related health issues and environmental risks. The current regulation on sludge agricultural use applied by many EU countries is here presented and compared, highlighting scarce harmonization of the legislative framework among Member States. Actual issues, such as the fate of emerging micropollutants and microplastics in sludge-amended soils, and public health concerns regarding sludge spreading during the COVID-19 epidemic, are considered, too.
Highlights
Sewage sludge chemical composition may vary depending on the wastewater source and treatment processes
Even though these findings indicate that wastewater could be a sensitive early warning tool to evaluate if the virus is circulating in the human population, the related risk for human health is still under debate as infectivity of viral particles in sewage and faeces remain to be confirmed
The attention progressively was diverted from heavy metals to organic micropollutants but the European Commission was unable to find a compromise solution between the so-called precautionary approach and the so-called risk-based approach
Summary
Sewage sludge chemical composition may vary depending on the wastewater source and treatment processes. The main risks related to agricultural use of sewage sludge are the potential presence of pathogens and pollutant enrichment in soils, plants and animal pastures and the subsequent entry into the food chain [8,9]. It clearly appears that the actions taken by the European Commission for sustaining the sludge agricultural use should be principally addressed to establish a set of appropriate standards that will guarantee against any possible risks to the humans, the soil and the environment. The roadmap underlines that the directive should encourage the safe use of sludge in agriculture, being that P recovery is a core objective and considering health risks due to the emerging concern about the contaminants (pharmaceuticals, PAH and PFAS, cosmetics and microplastics). Emerging issues regarding P-recovery technologies, the fate of microplastics (MPs) in sludge-amended soils, and the current health concerns related to sludge application during the COVID-19 pandemic will be described too
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