[Pharmwaste] Stewing over sewage fertilizer - biosolids containing PPCPs, etc.

[Tenace, Laurie]

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6336401 

Stewing over sewage fertilizer
By Jeremy P. Meyer 
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/10/2007 03:27:32 AM MDT


Jerry Hall, a field operator for Metrowastewater, unloads byproduct from
wastewater process Thursday at a farmer's field near Deer Trail as a car
rolls past on near by Interstate 70. (Post / RJ Sangosti)
Traces of drugs, steroids and fragrances linger in sewage byproducts sold as
home fertilizer for lawns and gardens long after they leave the wastewater
treatment plant, according to a federal study. 

The question, some researchers say, is whether those traces in "biosolid"
products put humans and the environment at risk. 

The study looked at products sold by nine sewage-treatment plants - including
a $3 bag of Metrogro, a compost sold by Denver's Metro Wastewater Reclamation
District. 

The same 25 contaminants were found in each of the nine products, including
an antihistamine, an antidepressant, a fire retardant, steroids,
disinfectants and detergents. Levels were measured in parts per billion. 

Wastewater-treatment officials say there should be no concern over chemicals
from everyday products at such tiny levels. 

Still, it has yet to be determined whether traces can cause problems, said
Chad Kinney, an Eastern Washington University professor and lead author of
the federal study. 

"Do we need to be concerned now that we know they are present?" Kinney said.
"That's the next step." 

The study found a total of 55 different contaminants. 

"This is something that we need to be aware of," said Edward Furlong, a
Denver-based research chemist for the U.S. Geological Survey and co-author of
the study. 

"Half of the biosolids produced in the United States are land-applied,"
Furlong said. "What it does at those levels, we don't know." 

At the metro wastewater plant in north Denver, more than 160 million gallons
of waste are treated every day before being discharged to the South Platte
River. The process produces about 74 dry tons of sewage biosolids daily. 

About 90 percent of the byproduct is land-applied to farms to boost nitrogen
levels and organic matter in the soil - mostly for dryland wheat. 

The material must meet federal and state standards for pathogens and metals
before it is allowed to leave the north Denver plant. Household compost gets
further treatment for pathogens, according to plant officials. 

Levels of these detected contaminants are "extremely low" and are among
chemicals commonly used every day, said Becky Patterson, specialist with the
metro plant's resource recovery and reuse department. 

"We are using much larger concentrations directly in and on our bodies as
part of our daily lives, so we might be the best canary in that mine,"
Patterson said. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing biosolids from around
the country in a new study, said Bob Brobst, the EPA's biosolid program
manager in Denver. 

"It's always prudent to look and understand these things," he said. "Based on
today's science, it's safe." 

Still, critics say, even the term "biosolid" was to disguise the problem of
chemicals in sludge being spread around the environment. 

"Wastewater-treatment plants were never designed to make fertilizer," said
Caroline Snyder, founder of the New Hampshire- based Citizens for Sludge-Free
Land. "They were designed to clean sewage." 

Land application of "sludge" is damaging the environment, and regulations are
allowing too much metal and organic chemicals to accumulate, she said. 

"Everything no one wants goes into the sewer," she said. 

Ellen Harrison, a professor at Cornell University's Waste Management
Institute, said not enough is known about the chemicals in sewage biosolid. 

"When you clean wastewater, some things are degraded and chewed up at the
plant, some things pass through in the water, some things go into the air,"
she said. "The nastier things go into the sludge." 

A study from Scotland found that sheep grazing in fields with sewage
biosolids had reproductive problems - fewer eggs in females and reduced
testosterone in males. 

The USGS's Furlong agreed that more studies are warranted to discover the
effects of biosolids on the environment. 

"There are no bad guys here," he said. "We have a problem that we are
responsible for. Everyone who uses these products are distributing them to
the environment. If anyone wants to point a finger, they should point it at
themselves." 

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 

Mercury web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medications web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm




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