Sewage sludge in Europe

Sewage Sludge in Europe and in the UK Environmental Impact and Improved Standards for Recycling and Recovery to Land... 

Stuer et al. [46] evaluated the presence of the 25 most used pharmaceuticals in the primary health sector in Denmark (e.g., paracetamol, acetyl salicylic acid, diazepam, and ibuprofen). They compared PECs with experimental determinations and they conclude that measured concentrations were in general within a factor of 2-5 of PECs. Carballa et al. [45] also determined PECs for pharmaceuticals (17), musk fragrances (2) and hormones (2) in sewage sludge matrix. For that purpose they used three different approaches (1) extrapolation of the per capita use in Europe to the number of Spanish inhabitants for musk fragrances (2) annual prescription items multiplied by the average daily dose for pharmaceuticals and (3) excretion rates of different groups of population for hormones. They indicated that these PECs fitted with the measured values for half of them (carbamazepine, diazepam, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, sulfamethoxazole, roxithromycin, erythromycin, and 17a-ethiny I e strad iol). 

Taking Europe as a whole, around 120 million wet tonnes of sewage sludge are produced each year and production will probably rise to close to 200 million tonnes per year by the end of the century. There is, therefore, an interest in all countries in research to improve ways of dealing with sewage sludge and thus most countries support some... 

On the other hand, the progressive implementation of the Directives 91/271/ EEC and 86/278/EEC in Europe has increased the quantities of sewage sludge requiring disposal. From an annual production of 5.5 million tonnes of dry matter in 1992, the European Community (EC) was heading towards 9 million tonnes in 2005 (Fig. 11.2, Langenkamp and Marino, 2000). 

Every year thousands of tons of sludge are produced in sewage treatmerrt plarrts. Application to agricrrltural land and disposal in sarritary landfills are the most poprrlar sludge disposal practices in Europe (Brurmer and... 

In a recent study, Clark et al. have compiled and analyzed measured concentration data of six phthalate esters in seven environmental media including water, sediment, soil, air, dust, food, wastewater, sewage sludge, and rainwater. The data are predominantly from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. The complete database, with references, was presented in a report to the American Chemistry Council. The reported concentrations vary widely as an example, the overall mean concentration of BMP in surface water in Canada (1.40 /rg/1) is three orders of magnitude higher than that found in the U.S. (0.0017 /rg/1). The authors consider that this wide distribution is due to several factors including analytical error, sample contamination, and proximity to a variety of past and present phthalate sources. 

Sauerbeck, D.R., Rietz, E., 1983. Soil chemical evaluation of different extractants for heavy metals in soils. Comm. Europe Communities Report EUR 8022. Environ. Eff, Org. Inorg. Contam. Sewage Sludge (CA 99 193726), pp. 147-160. 

In Europe, the main task of this conversion route is to treat organic waste or residues to reduce waste disposal eosts the production of energy is only a by-product in most cases (like the treatment of sewage sludge). 

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