Determining Pathogen and Indicator Levels in Class B Municipal Organic Residuals Used for Land Application

Biosolids are nutrient rich organic residuals that are currently used to amend soils for food production. Treatment requirements to inactivate pathogens for production of Class A biosolids are energy intensive. One less energy intensive alternative is to treat biosolids to Class B standards, but it could result in higher pathogen loads. Quantitative microbial risk assessments models have been developed on land application of Class B biosolids, but contain many uncertainties because of limited data on specific pathogen densities and the use of fecal indicator organisms as accurate surrogates of pathogen loads. To address this gap, a 12-month study of the levels and relationships between Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and human adenovirus (HAdV) with fecal coliform, somatic and F-RNA coliphage levels in Class B biosolids from nine wastewater treatment plants throughout the United States was conducted. Results revealed that fecal coliform, somatic, and F-RNA coliphage densities were consistent throughout the year. More importantly, results revealed that HAdV (=2.5x103 genome copies/dry g) and Giardia (=4.14 x103 cysts/dry g) were in all biosolids samples regardless of treatment processes, location, or season. Cryptosporidium oocysts were also detected (38 % positive; range: 0 -1.9 x 103 oocysts/dry g), albeit sporadically. Positive correlations among three fecal indicator organisms and HAdV, but not protozoa, were also observed. Overall, study reveals the high concentrations of enteric pathogens (e.g., Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and HAdV) are present in biosolids throughout the US. Microbial densities found can further assist management and policy makers establish more accurate risk assessment models associated with land application of Class B biosolids. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Rhodes , E., L. Boczek , M. Ware , M. McKay, J. Hoelle , M. Schoen, and E. Villegas. Determining pathogen and indicator levels in Class B municipal organic residuals used for land application. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. American Society of Agronomy, MADISON, WI, USA, 44(1): 265-274, (2015).

                                            [
  "020:00"
]
                                        

                                            {
  "fn": "Eric Villegas",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:villegas.eric@epa.gov"
}
                                        

                                            [
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    "mediaType": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet",
    "downloadURL": "https://pasteur.epa.gov/uploads/10.23719/1390080/VillegasEric_A-ftts_data_20160720.docx.xlsx"
  }
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                                            [
  "biosolids",
  "cryptosporidium",
  "fecal indicator bacteria",
  "giardia",
  "occurrence",
  "organic residual",
  "wastewater"
]
                                        

                                            [
  "020:000"
]
                                        

                                            {
  "name": "U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)",
  "subOrganizationOf": {
    "name": "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency",
    "subOrganizationOf": {
      "name": "U.S. Government"
    }
  }
}
                                        

                                            [
  "https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2014.04.0142"
]
                                        

                                            null