A364jno9lar Farming, Saturday, March 14, 1996
More Proactive Approach Needed To Rid Public Fears
Of *.Mutagenic * Land-Applied Sludge
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
If the wastewater treatment
industry wants to convince farmers
to use land to dispose of properly
treated sludge, then a more proac
tive approach could work wonders
to stop ungrounded fears and to rid
the public’s misconceived “dan
ger” of sludge to the environment
More than a dozen environmen
tal officials, educators, and agri
industry representatives were told
that all sludges should be tested for
“mutagenicity” (having materials
that can cause mutations in animal
and human DNA, a possible pre
cursor to cancer) based on “per
ceived risk” to the public.
And the wastewater industry
could do well to help facilitate
research into the use of lime dos
ages to stem the mutagenicity of
sludge, according to Scan M. Fur
janic, environmental health
scientist
Furjanic, a graduate research
assistant from Penn State
University-Harrisburg and a pri
vate consultant, spoke Thursday
afternoon at die Lancaster Campus
of Harrisburg Area Community
College (HACQ. The seminar
was one of several to address
HACC’s ongoing “3 R’s Series”
called “The Cutting Edge of
Resource Management—Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle.”
The “interactive” seminar at
Lancaster HACC featured
responses by a leader in wastewa
ter treatment, a Pa. Department of
Environmental Protection engi
neer, a district conservationist, and
a HACC biology faculty member.
They all responded to the issues
brought forth by Dr. Katherine
Baker, assistant professor of envir
onmental microbiology at Penn
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Working with Baker, Fiujanic
presented the results of his own
research into the use of Quicklime
at various doses and under various
stringent and sophisticated levels
of monitoring to see their effects
on mutagens in sludge, otherwise
known as “biosolids.” The focus
was from a biologist’s approach
rather than a chemist's, according
to Baker.
Fiujanic pointed out the public’s
reluctance in some cases to support
the land application of biosolids on
farmland. In York County a sign
reads “Sludge—toxic to life.” The
county, according to Fiujanic, has
a few opposition groups that pose a
challenge to scientist-educators.
The research looked into the
questions: is there an optimal dose
of lime that could be used to treat
sludge? Could more than optimal
rates have an even better effect on
controlling mutagens?
It took a lot erf effort, but finally
Furjanic was able to select four
wastewater treatment plant
sludges that could support muta
gens. It was difficult to find such
sludges, since most municipal
treatment centers have stringent
restrictions on the amount of met
als and other environmentally
unfriendly materials conducive to
supporting mutagens in sludge.
Furjanic tried various ratios of
treatment of the Quicklime to
sludge and different sludge combi
nations. He made use of the Ames
Test The sludge extracts were
treated with pre-incubated Sal
monella bacteria and the growth
and progress of die bacteria was
monitored. The life of mutagens
was monitored.
There were three interesting
observations, according to Futjan
ic, as a result of the research;
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The “Interactive” sludge seminar at Lancaster HACC featured responses by, from
left, C.D. Vu, engineer with the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection; Dee Wal
ter, HACC adjunct faculty, biology; Don Robinson, district manager, Lancaster Coun
ty Conservation District; and Jay R. Snyder, Borough of Ephrata environmental
resource manager.
1. Dewatered sludge increases
in mutagenic activity after 10 days,
then slowly declines.
2. Lime/ash and sludge/ash mix
es could prove the best stabilizing
agents, but material toxicity could
be in question.
3. An interesting phenomenon,
according to the environmental
scientist, was that, one day after
the lime ratio was bought to 3.5
parts to 1 of sludge, the sludge
“nearly doubled in mutagenicity.”
It does taper off, eventually—but
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after 90 days remains more
mutagenic than ordinary dewa
tered sludge.
The common and most direct
finding: a 1 to 1 ratio of Quicklime
to sludge, which raises the pH to
11 or higher, works to control
mutagenic effects of the sludge.
The addition of more lime signific
antly reduces mutagenic capabili
ties of dewatered sludge.
One hypothesis was reduced:
does increasing dose to 3.5 parts to
1 reduce mutagens? No.
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Hie second hypothesis: is there
an optimal dose for treating
sludge? There are conflicting
results, and more work needs to be
done.
Generally, according to the sci
entist. certain lime doses to dewa
tered sludge can reduce the
mutagenicity of biosolids.
But the “perceived” issue is the
very word mutagens which
cause widespread fear in the publ
ic, who have little tolerance for
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