Succession and change of potential pathogens in the co-composting of rural sewage sludge and food waste

Abstract

Composting is an effective way to prevent and control the spread of pathogenic microorganisms which could put potential risk to humans and environment, from rural solid waste, especially sewage sludge and food waste. In the study, we aim to analyze the changes of pathogenic bacteria during the co-composting of rural sewage sludge and food waste. The results showed that only 27 pathogenic bacteria were detected after composting, compared to 50 pathogenic bacteria in the raw mixed pile. About 74% of pathogen concentrations dropped below 1000 copies/g after composting. Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Paenibacillus and Comamonas were the core pathogenic bacteria in the compost, of which concentrations were all significantly lower than that in the raw mixed pile at the end of composting. The concentration of Lactobacillus decreased to 3.03 × 103 copies/g compared to 0 d with 1.25 × 109 copies/g by the end of the composting, while that of Bacillus, Paenibacillus and Comamonas decreased to 2.77 × 104 copies/g, 2.13 × 104 copies/g and 3.38 × 102 copies/g, respectively, with 1.26 × 107 copies/g, 4.71 × 106 copies/g, 1.69 × 108 copies/g on 0 d. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that physicochemical factors and substances could affect the changes of pathogenic bacteria during composting, while temperature was the key influencing factor. In addition, certain potential pathogenic bacteria, such as Bacteroides-Bifidobacterium, show statistically strong and significant co-occurrence during composting, which may increase the risk of multiple infections and also influence their distribution. These findings provide a theoretical reference for biosafety prevention and control in the treatment and disposal of rural solid waste.