Biosolids soil application : agronomic and environmental implications

• Autores: White, Robert Edwin; Torri, Silvana Irene; Correa, Rodrigo Studart
• Año de publicación: 2011
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: Applied and Environmental Soil Science; Vol.2011; art.928973; https://www.hindawi.com
• Materia: BIOSOLIDS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS; AGRONOMIC IMPLICATIONS; SOIL APPLICATION
• Institución: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía

Fil: White, Robert Edwin. The University of Melbourne. Department of Agriculture and Food Systems. Melbourne, Australia.
Fil: Torri, Silvana Irene. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Correa, Rodrigo Studart. University of Brasilia. Department of Ecology. Brasilia, DF, Brazil.
Increasing urbanization and industrialization have resulted in a dramatic increase in the volume of wastes generated worldwide, particularly of sewage sludge or biosolids generated as a byproduct from wastewater treatment. Waste management has become a major environmental challenge, and land application of biosolids is generally considered the best option of disposal because it offers the possibility of recycling plant nutrients, provides organic material, improves a soil’s chemical and physical properties, and enhances crop yields. However, the benefits from biosolids application have to be weighed against potential deleterious effects such as risks of excessive leaching of nitrate,contamination of soils and crops with human pathogens and heavy metals, nutritional disorders in crops, increase of soil salinity, contamination of groundwater with pesticides, hormones, and pharmaceuticals, and decreased stability of native soil organicmatter. For these reasons, this special issue focuses on the agronomic and environmental implications of soil application of biosolids and presents the most recent scientific information on the subject. Papers in this special issue cover various aspects of the release of nutrients from biosolids and their effect on the growth of cereal and fruit crops, pasture, and trees on a range of soils in diverse locations. Papers also report on the residual nutrient effects of biosolids, their release of potentially damaging heavy metals, and effects on soil organisms, thus providing a broad view of the soil-agronomic advantages and environmental implications of recycling organic matter and nutrients from sewage treatment systems into soils.