Essential and Nonessential Element Translocation in Corn Cultivated Under Sewage Sludge Application and Associated Health Risk

Abstract

Sewage sludge has been used as a fertilizer in agriculture, but human exposure to toxins due to crop exposure has been reported. This study evaluated the uptake of essential and nonessential elements from soil (exposed to sewage sludge) to roots, shoots, and grains of corn, aiming to estimate the daily intake corn consumption to assess the associated health risk. Corn plants were grown in soil amended with 0, 5, 10, and 20 tons of sewage sludge per hectare (t/ha). Soil, root, shoot, and grain samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In soil, sludge application at 10 and 20 t/ha enhanced the Zn, Cu, Mo, Cd, Pb, Hg, and Ni concentration compared to control soil. Normally, corn plants exhibited essential and nonessential element concentrations significantly higher in roots than in grains and shoots. Selenium was equally distributed in roots, shoots, and grains but Mo was preferentially stored in grains. Cadmium, As, and Pb were more efficiently trapped in roots than other elements. Considering the estimated daily intake, for Brazilians, the concentrations were below the toxicological or the dietary reference values. In conclusion, chemical elements were efficiently trapped in roots and therefore applying 5 t/ha proportion of sewage sludge might be a sustainable and cost-effective strategy, with a very lower risk of toxicity due to consumption of grains. In contrast, sewage sludge at 20 t/ha enhanced element levels in plant parts and in places with higher corn consumption, estimated daily intakes are expected to rise.

Disposal Situation of Sewage Sludge from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) and Assessment of the Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals for Its Land Use in Shanxi, China

“…In European Union countries, more than 50% of the sludge is disposed by land application such as France, Belgium and the United Kingdom [ 1 , 3 ]. The application of sewage sludge to land can increase the plant yields and enhance soil properties such as pH, organic matter, nutrients, porosity, aggregate stability, bulk density and water retention and movement [ 1 , 3 , 9 , 10 ]. However, sludge can also lead to environmental pollution because it contains various pollutants, especially heavy metals [ 11 ].…”

A sustainable food security approach: Controlled land application of sewage sludge recirculates nutrients to agricultural soils and enhances crop productivity

“…In these cases, land application of SS represents a potential approach to recycle OM, in addition to other plant nutrients, to soils. Regarding the effects that SS soil application has on plant growth, many reports have found significant enhancements in the growth of various crop plants when grown in agricultural soils amended with SS, such as mung bean , faba bean (Eid et al, 2018), corn (Grotto et al, 2015), wheat (Eid et al, spinach , and cucumber .…”

Avaliação da presença de elementos potencialmente tóxicos decorrentes da produção informal e domiciliar de joias e bijuterias na rede de esgoto sanitário de Limeira-SP

“…In Brazil, one of the alternatives used for final sludge disposal is the composting for agricultural (Krzyzanowski et al, 2014;. The increase in PTEs concentration in the soil and agricultural plants, after compost application, has been observed (Gonçalves et al, 2014;Grotto et al, 2015;Nascimento et al, 2015). Cai et al (2007) observed that the compost concentrations increased by 12 to 60% for Cd, 8 to 17% for Cu, 15…”

“…O lodo de esgoto pode ser usado para recuperação energética, como fonte de extração de compostos, como por exemplo, a recuperação de fósforo ou pode ser tratado e usado em terra como fertilizante e condicionador de solo (Fijalkowski et al, 2017). A aplicação agrícola ou disposição em aterros são as opções de menor custo e comumente utilizadas no mundo (Cai et al, 2007;Krzyzanowski et al, 2014Krzyzanowski et al, , 2016Grotto et al, 2015). Considerando que as constituições dos lodos de esgoto podem apresentar tanto patógenos como substâncias tóxicas e os elementos podem se acumular ou mobilizar no solo, sua aplicação na agricultura pode representar um risco ambiental que deve ser monitorado (Cai et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2008;Grotto et al, 2015;Fijalkowski et al, 2017).…”

“…A aplicação agrícola ou disposição em aterros são as opções de menor custo e comumente utilizadas no mundo (Cai et al, 2007;Krzyzanowski et al, 2014Krzyzanowski et al, , 2016Grotto et al, 2015). Considerando que as constituições dos lodos de esgoto podem apresentar tanto patógenos como substâncias tóxicas e os elementos podem se acumular ou mobilizar no solo, sua aplicação na agricultura pode representar um risco ambiental que deve ser monitorado (Cai et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2008;Grotto et al, 2015;Fijalkowski et al, 2017). Em casos de controle parcial do resíduo pode ocorrer percolação da água, principalmente das chuvas, podendo ocasionar o carreamento de substâncias tóxicas pelo chorume, o qual pode escorrer até corpos hídricos mais próximos, ou infiltrar no solo e atingir as águas subterrâneas, comprometendo sua qualidade e uso (Sisinno e Moreira, 1996;Kjeldsen et al, 2002;Fang et al, 2017).…”