Land Application of Sewage Sludge: Physicochemical and Microbial Response - Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology - page 56

from sewage sludge amendment is one major concern worldwide. The health of
soils is represented by a composite of their physical, chemical and biological
properties. Amending soil with sewage sludge modiies the physicochemical and
biological properties of soils. Perhaps the central constituent of soil that is important
in the context of sewage sludge amendment is microbial biomass. Soil microbial
biomass, the key living part of the soil, is very closely associated with the content of
organic matter that exists in arable agricultural soils. When sewage sludge is land-
applied, soil enzyme activities may be directly or indirectly affected by the presence
of heavy metals. In several studies, results have shown that sewage sludge amend-
ment increased soil microbial and soil enzyme activities; however, reduction in soil
enzyme activity has also been reported. When incubation periods of sewage sludge
were longer, heavy metal bioavailability increased. Soil pathogenic activity has also
been reported to increase as a result of land application of sewage sludges. The level
of pathogens in treated sewage sludge (biosolids) depends on the processes used to
treat wastewater and sewage sludge. Agricultural application of sewage sludge may
result in the transport of pathogens through aerosols downwind of sludge storage or
dispersal sites, may contaminate ground water, stock ponds, or may produce food
chain contamination from eating food grown in sludge-treated land.
Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the USM, Penang, Malaysia as well as Banaras
Hindu University, Varanasi, India for providing necessary help.
References
Adams TMM, Sanders JR (1984) The effect of pH on the release to solution of zinc, copper and
nickel from metal loaded sewage sludges. Environ Pollut 8:85-99.
Agarwal A, Singhmar A, Kulshrestha M, Mittal AK (2005) Municipal solid waste recycling and
associated markets in Delhi, India. Resour Conserv Recy 44:73-90.
Alloway BJ (1995) Heavy metals in soils, Blackie Academic and Professional. pp 11-37.
Al-Zubeiry AHS (2005) Microlora inhabiting raw sewage, secondary efluent and dewatered
sludge in IBB, Yemen republic Ass. Univ Bull Environ Res 8 No. 1
Anderson TH, Gray TRG (1990) Soil microbial carbon uptake characteristics in relation to soil
management. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 74:11-19.
Antonious GF (2009) Enzyme activities and heavy metals concentration in soil amended with sew-
age sludge. J Environ Sci Health A 44:1019-1024.
Archie SG, Smith M (1981) Survival and growth of plantations in sewage sludge treated soil and
older forest growth study. In municipal sludge application to Paciic North-West forest lands.
Bledose CB (ed) pp105-113 Univ of Washington, College of Forest Resources, Washington,
D.C.
Ashworth D J, Alloway B J (2004) Soil mobility of sewage sludge-derived organic matter, copper,
nickel and zinc. Environ Pollut 127:37-144.
Banerjee MR, Burtonand DL, Depoe S (1997) Impact of sewage sludge application on soil appli-
cation characteristics. Agric Ecosyst Environ 66:241-249.
Bardgett RD, Saggar S (1994) Effects of heavy metal contamination on the short-term decomposi-
tion of labelled [14C] glucose in a pasture soil. Soil Biol Biochem 26:727-733.
Bhargava D (2006) Revival of Mathura's ailing Yamuna river. The Environmentalist. 26 :111-122,
DOI: 10.1007/s10669-006-7481-1