LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal; ALiCE - Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal.
LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal.
Environ Pollut. 2022 Oct 1;310:119908. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119908. Epub 2022 Aug 10.
Sewage sludges are rich in organic matter and several essential nutrients for plant growth, making them very appealing for application in agricultural soils. However, they may also contain a wide range of emerging pollutants, which has raised concerns about the potential risks of this practice to crops, the environment, and public health - accumulation in soils and/or plant uptake and translocation of contaminants. Therefore, there is a need to study plant-soil interactions and assess the uptake potential of these contaminants by food crops to better understand these risks. The main aim of this work was to assess the possible drawbacks of sludge application to cropland, by observing the impact on the growth and yield of a model crop (pea plant - Pisum sativum) grown over an 86-day greenhouse experiment and by assessing the uptake potential of synthetic musk fragrances. Different sewage sludge application rates (4-30-ton ha) and initial concentrations of contaminants were tested. The application of sludge yielded benefits to the cultivated plants, finding improved crop productivity with an application rate of 30-ton ha. At the end of the experiment, soil samples and plants separated into sections were analysed using a QuEChERS extraction methodology followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) quantification. Galaxolide (HHCB) and tonalide (AHTN) underwent uptake by the plant roots, having been detected in concentrations up to 346 ng g on a dry weight basis (dw), but only HHCB was detected in above ground tissues. At the end, a decrease in the levels of synthetic musks in the amended soils (>80% in several instances) was observed. Assuming the worst-case scenario, no risk to human health was observed from the ingestion of peas grown on sewage sludge-amended soils. However, a soil hazard quotient analysis yielded worryingly high quotient values for AHTN in nearly all tested conditions.
污水污泥富含有机物和几种对植物生长至关重要的营养物质，因此非常适合应用于农业土壤。然而，它们也可能含有广泛的新兴污染物，这引起了人们对这种做法对作物、环境和公共健康的潜在风险的关注，包括污染物在土壤中的积累和/或植物对污染物的吸收和转移。因此，需要研究植物-土壤相互作用，并评估这些污染物对粮食作物的吸收潜力，以更好地了解这些风险。这项工作的主要目的是通过观察在 86 天温室实验中生长的模式作物（豌豆植物 - Pisum sativum）的生长和产量的影响，以及评估合成麝香香料的吸收潜力，来评估将污泥施用于农田的可能弊端。测试了不同的污泥施用量（4-30 吨/公顷）和污染物的初始浓度。污泥的应用对种植的植物有好处，发现施用量为 30 吨/公顷时可提高作物生产力。实验结束时，使用 QuEChERS 提取方法和气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）定量分析对土壤样品和植物进行了分析，将植物分为不同部分。HHCB 和 AHTN 被植物根系吸收，并在干重基础上检测到高达 346ng/g 的浓度，但仅在地上组织中检测到 HHCB。最后，观察到添加的土壤中合成麝香的水平下降（在几种情况下超过 80%）。假设最坏的情况，从施用过污水污泥的土壤中生长的豌豆中摄入这些物质不会对人类健康造成风险。然而，土壤危害系数分析得出，在几乎所有测试条件下，AHTN 的数值都令人担忧地高。
