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

Bibliographic Data

ID15487012
AuthorsBaoling Duan (0000-0001-9044-8260, Shanxi Agricultural University), Wuping Zhang (0000-0002-4354-4409, Shanxi Agricultural University), Haixia Zheng (0000-0002-3470-2313, Shanxi Agricultural University), Chunyan Wu (0000-0002-6531-1219, Shanxi Agricultural University), Qiang Zhang (0000-0003-4613-3100, Shanxi Agricultural University), BU Yu-shan (Shanxi Agricultural University, corresponding author), Yushan Bu (Shanxi Agricultural University)
Year2017
Volume14
Issue7
Pages823-823
Publication date2017-07-21
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph14070823
PMID28753993
OpenAlexW2736373561
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited37

Land use of sewage sludge is the primary disposal method in Shanxi, accounting for 42.66% of all. To determine the ecological risk of heavy metals in sewage sludge, contents of seven heavy metals in sewage sludge from 9 municipal waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) that had the highest application for land use were determined. The order of the measured concentrations was: Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb > As > Cd, and all heavy metals contents were within the threshold limit values of the Chinese Control Standards for Pollutants in Sludge from Agriculture Use (GB4284-84). Four indices were used to assess the pollution and the ecological risk of heavy metals. By the mean values of the geoaccumulation index (I geo ), heavy metals were ranked in the following order: Cd > Zn > Cu > As > Cr > Ni > Pb. The values showed that the pollution of Zn in station 3 and Cd in station 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9 were heavily; Cu in station 8 and 9, Zn in station 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 and Cd in station 5 and 7 were moderately to heavily, and the accumulation of other heavy metals were not significant. The single-factor pollution index (PI) suggested that none of the stations had heavy metals contamination, except for Cu in station 9, Zn in station 3 and 8, and Cd in station 1 and 9, which were at a moderate level. According to the results of the Nemerow's synthetic pollution index (PN), sewage sludge from all stations was safe for land use with respect to heavy metals contamination, except for stations 3, 8 and 9, which were at the warning line. The monomial potential ecological risk coefficient (Eri) revealed that heavy metals ecological risks in most stations were low. However, station 9 had a moderate risk for Cu; station 6 had a moderate risk, stations 5 and 7 had high risk, other stations had very high risk for Cd. According to the results of the potential ecological risk index (RI), station 1, 8 and 9 had high risk; station 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 had a moderate risk, and station 6 had a low risk. The preliminary results indicated that the potential risk of land exposure to heavy metals in sewage sludge was relatively low, with Zn and Cd as the main contributor to the ecological risk for the applying of sewage sludge on land. Additionally, stations 3, 8 and 9 require more attention regarding the land applications related to heavy metals pollution

China · Environmental protection · Geography · Heavy metals · Risk assessment · Sewage · Sewage sludge · Sewage treatment · Waste management · Wastewater · Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal · Coal and Its By-products · Engineering · Environmental Science · Heavy metals in environment · Environmental Chemistry · Environmental Engineering

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