4. PROYECCIÓN DIDÁCTICA
4.8. METODOLOGÍA
The risk of human exposure to organic compounds derived from sewage sludge land application has received much attention internationally and is the reason why the Australian water industry proposed this project. Reviews on each of the major biosolids-human exposure pathways have been written, such as plant accumulation (O'Connor, 1996), grazing animal bioaccumulation (Duarte-Davidson & Jones, 1996), off-site movement and groundwater contamination (Wilson et al., 1996). But again, no research has been conducted within Australia.
The aims of this research were:
1. Determine the typical levels of the selected organic pollutants in Australian sewage sludge;
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2. Identify where possible the sources of the selected organic pollutants in Australian sewage sludge;
3. Compare the concentration of the selected organic pollutants in Australian sewage sludges to international levels;
4. Perform a human health risk assessment for exposure to the selected organic compounds deriving from sewage sludge land application
This research has been approached from two perspectives – one that is concerned with environmental monitoring and the second is data collation for the human health risk assessment of sewage sludge/biosolids land application. The research has been completed from the point of view of an environmental scientist. In this case, the role of an environmental scientist is to explain the concentrations and trends of organic pollutants with respect to their application or function within society and their historical use. The concentrations of the chemicals of concern need to be placed into context that facilitates understanding by regulators and concerned citizens. The empirical data collected in this research will serve as the basis from which Australian regulators can make informed decisions about risk management for sewage sludge.
‘Chapter 2 Method’ presents the theoretical basis for the analytical techniques that have been used. Each of the chemicals of concern are discussed in self-contained chapters that contains a historical overview of the COCs, followed by a presentation of the studies undertaken. Chapter 3 is focussing on dioxin-like compounds and discusses the results of two studies; an Australian sewage sludge survey (2006) and time series analysis of dioxin-like compounds sewage sludge concentration generated from three WWTPs in Perth, Australia between the years 2002 and 2006. PBDEs and PBBs are the subject of Chapter 4. The results of an Australian sewage sludge survey (2006) and a comparison of sludge levels from the same WWTPs in 2005 and 2006 are presented. An experiment that investigated the distribution of PBDEs within an Australian WWTP was performed in 2007 and the quantities of PBDEs that are released into the environment via treated effluent and sewage sludge have been determined. OCPs and PCBs are the subject of Chapter 5 and the results of three studies are presented. This includes the collation of Australian OCP/PCB sewage sludge concentration data between the years 2004 and 2006. An independent survey was undertaken in 2007 and an analysis of a ten-year time series was completed.
PAEs are the subject of Chapter 6 and the results of an Australian sewage sludge
survey are presented. A survey of Australian sewage sludge/biosolids was undertaken for each of the chemicals of concern with surveys undertaken in 2006 and 2007, with sample analysis completed at the National Measurement Institute in Sydney due to the specialized analytical requirements. Time series analysis has been undertaken using historical and collected data for dioxin-like compounds, PBDEs, OCPs and PCBs.
Chapter 7 presents a human health risk assessment for the land application of sewage sludge as biosolids where all the data that was collated is used as the basis for this assessment. This risk assessment also provides a framework for the screening of the risk of new emerging organic pollutants.
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