Regulatory approaches to application of biosolids to agricultural - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Regulatory approaches to application of biosolids to agricultural land in Australia and New Zealand

Professor Michael Warne1,2,3

1 Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University

2 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland 3 Queensland Department of Environment and Science

Australia & NZ Australia

• nly

NZ

• nly

These symbols, in the top left corner, indicate which countries I am talking about

Australia Biosolids Biosolids Agricultural land Other uses

Any treatment Type of treatment

Sludge

Sufficient treatment No or insufficient treatment

Agricultural land Other uses Sludge Sludge New Zealand

Australia & NZ

Biosolids are the treated and/or stabilised

• rganic solids produced by wastewater

treatment processes

Australia & NZ

Potential uses of biosolids

Land applications Incorporation & Energy production Waste disposal Waste dumps Waterbodies Agriculture Compost/soil additive Roadbase Landscaping Cement Incineration Oxidation Hydrolysis Methane production Waste Wealth from Waste Mine rehabilitation

Use of biosolids

75% 2% 8% 11% 1% 3%

agriculture forestry landfill landscaping land rehabilitation

• cean discharge

stockpile

9% 4% 59% 5% 5% 18% 0%

Australia (~ 300 000 dry tonnes/yr)

75 2 8 11 1 3

New Zealand (~ 70 000 dry tonnes/yr) Beneficial use - 94% Beneficial use - 23%

9 4 59 5 5 18 Australia & NZ

3 states 100% beneficial use 1 state 99% beneficial use A goal of 75% beneficial use

Australia & NZ

Trends in biosolids use over last 5 years

Australia New Zealand Land rehabilitation Landfill, agricultural land 10% 5% 23% 3% Stockpiling 55% 75% Agricultural land Minor increases for other uses Essentially no change

Biosolids guidelines

Australia New Zealand National State 2004 2003 Being revised Apply NZ guidelines NT QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, SA, WA, ACT have

• wn guidelines

Territory Region

Australia & NZ

Why are there state guidelines?

• Australia is a federation
• Australia was created by the joining

together the colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia

• Powers were split between the

Australian and the State and Territory governments.

• The states control chemical

management, environmental and human health

Australia

• nly

The colonies that formed Australia

What do the guidelines do?

Determine

• how the biosolids can be used

If they can be applied to agricultural land

• how much can be applied
• where they can be applied

Australia & NZ

How can biosolids be used?

• The decision is based on

Stabilisation grade Pathogen concentration Treatment type, duration & temp Contamination grade Contaminants present Contaminant concentration

Zn Pb DDT Lindane

Australia & NZ

Stabilisation grades

State/Country Stabilisation grade NZ A B Australia, NT, WA P1 P2 P3 P4 VIC T1 T2 T3 SA A B TAS A B >B NSW, QLD A B C

Australia & NZ

Contaminant grades

State/Country Contaminant grade NZ a b Australia, NT C1 C2 >C2 VIC, WA C1 C2 C3 SA A B C WA, TAS A B >B NSW, QLD A B C D

Australia & NZ

Contaminants assessed

Australia & NZ

Australia & NZ

Maximum concentration in biosolids

Country /State Cadmium (mg/Kg) Zinc (mg/Kg) Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Aus 1 20 200 – 250 2500 NZ 3 10 600 1500 NSW 3 5 20 32 200 700 2500 3500 WA 1 20 >20 200 2500 >2500 SA 1 11 20 200 1400 2500 Vic 1 10 200 2500 Tas 3 20 200 2500 >2500

How do you calculate the contaminant grade?

• BCC – biosolids contaminant concentration

Infrequent sampling BCC = mean conc + SD Frequent sampling BCC = mean conc + 2SD i.e. 95%ile of concentrations

Australia & NZ

Australia & NZ

Maximum concentration in biosolids

Country /State Cadmium (mg/Kg) Zinc (mg/Kg) Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade A Grade B Grade C Grade D Aus 1 20 200 – 250 2500 NZ 3 10 600 1500 NSW 3 5 20 32 200 700 2500 3500 WA 1 20 >20 200 2500 >2500 SA 1 11 20 200 1400 2500 Vic 1 10 200 2500 Tas 3 20 200 2500 >2500

Contaminant grade

Biosolid Grade for each contaminant Biosolids contam grade Cd Cr Zn Lindane Bios 1 A A C B Bios 2 B C B B Bios 3 A A A A Determine the contaminant grade for all contaminants in the guidelines The lowest grade for all contaminants in a biosolid becomes the biosolids contaminant grade C C A

Australia & NZ

Australia

• nly

Biosolids grades & potential uses

Contam grade Stab grade Permissible biosolids use

C1 P1 Unrestricted except sensitive sites C2 P2 Agric for salad plants & root crops C2 P3 Agric for crops that are cooked or processed, grazing, dairy. C2 P1 Institutional (recreational) & landscaping C2 P3 Institutional (non-recreational), landscaping, forestry, land rehabilitation, landfill, sub-surface application. >C2 P4 Landfill or secure landfill.

Permitted land uses

Stabilisation grade Contaminant grade Biosolids classification Permitted uses A a Aa unrestricted use biosolids* – permitted activity rule (e.g. fertilisers) A b Ab Restricted use biosolids

• regional council assess

and give a “resource consent” B a Ba B b Bb

NZ only

*sufficiently high quality that they can be safely handled by the public and applied to land without risk of significant adverse effects

How much biosolids can be applied?

• The amount depends on
• Concentration of nitrogen in biosolids
• Concentration of phosphorus in biosolids
• Concentration of contaminants in biosolids

Australia & NZ

N and P limits

• Are called the nitrogen limiting biosolids application rate

(NLBAR) and phosphorus limiting biosolids application rate (PLBAR)

• 1 NLBAR or 1 PLBAR is the largest amount of biosolids

that can be applied so that the nutrient levels do not exceed the annual nutrient requirements of the crops (i.e. there should be no net increase in nutrient concentrations after one year)

• NLBARs and PLBARs are plant and site specific

Australia

• nly

Calculating the Nitrogen Limiting Biosolids Application Rate (NLBAR)

NLBAR (tonne/ha) = crop nutrient requirement (kg/ha) available bios nitrogen (kg/tonne)

Some Australian crop nutrient requirements:

Crop N requirement (kg/ha/yr) P requirement (kg/ha/yr) Clover 180 20 Lucerne 220 – 540 20 – 30 Oranges 40

• Sorghum

90 15

Australia

• nly

Available Biosolids Nitrogen (ABN)

ABN = [Ammonium N] + [Oxidised N] + ([Organic N] x MR x 1000) Organic N = TKN – (Ammonium N + Oxidised N) Oxidised N = Nitrite and nitrate TKN = Total Kjeldahl N MR is mineralisation rate:

Anaerobic digestion - 15% Aerobic digestion - 25% Composted - 10%

Australia

• nly

CLAR = (MPCC – MSCC) x ρ /d x M BCC

MPCC = maximum permissible contaminant concentration (mg/kg) MSCC = measured soil contaminant concentration (mg/kg) ρ = soil bulk density 1.333 dry tonnes/ha d = incorporation depth (cm) M = incorporate soil mass of 1 ha of soil (dry tonnes) BCC = biosolids contaminant concentration (mg/kg)

Contaminant Limiting Application Rate (CLAR)

For all contaminants except Cadmium

Australia

• nly

Calculating the MPCC for Cu and Zn

MPCC = MPACB + BC

MPACB = maximum permitted added biosolids concentration (mg/kg) BC = background concentration (mg/kg)

Australia

• nly

pH OC (%) 0.5 1 2 3 4 5 6 4.0 4.1 8.5 17.7 27.1 36.7 46.4 56.2 5.0 8.4 17.4 36.0 55.2 74.7 94.5 114.5 6.0 17.0 35.3 73.3 112.4 152.2 192.5 233.2 7.0 34.7 72.0 149.9 228.9 309.9 392.0 475.0 8.0 70.7 146.7 304.3 466.4 631.4 798.6 967.6

MPABC for Copper (mg/kg)

Australia

• nly

How to determine background concentrations

• 1. If there is no history of metal additions (e.g. no

intensive fertiliser, biosolid or pesticide use or not located close to urban/industrial centres) – measure soil concentrations and use as the background.

• 2. If there has been a history of metal additions or

the history is unknown, use the models of Hamon et al. (2004) to estimate the background concentration.

Australia

• nly

Background conc of Cu & Zn

Australia

• nly

Based on Hamon et al., Global Geochem Cycles, V18, 2004.

Contaminant Limiting Application Rate (CLAR) for Cd

Australia

• nly

Annual addition of Cd in biosolids can not exceed 0.03 kg/ha/year or 0.15kg/ha/5 years and must not exceed the Cd maximum permissible concentration (MPC)

Maximum permissible Cd soil concentration (Cd MPC)

Soil pH Clay content (%) 5 25 50 4.5 0.54 1.17 1.96 6.5 0.82 1.45 2.24 8.5 1.10 1.73 2.52

Australia

• nly

CLAR calculations

CLAR calculations should be done for all contaminants listed in the biosolids guidelines

Australia

• nly

How much biosolids can be applied?

Cd CLAR Cu CLAR Zn CLAR NLBAR PLBAR The lowest application rate (above) determines how much biosolids can be applied

Australia

• nly

Other CLARs

NZ approach to determining how much bios can be applied

• There is no specific guidance or equations. It is more informal

and less transparent??

• Proposed application rates are considered by the consent

authority

NZ only

Nutrients

• Rate is site and plant specific
• Seek advice from

agronomist

• Use a default N application

rate of 200 kg total N/ha/yr Contaminants

• Characterise metal & organic

contaminants

• Should ensure the soil

contaminant concentration after biosolids application is less than the maximum soil limit.

Where can biosolids be applied?

Above are from the Australian Guidelines but similar exist for all states, territories & in NZ Australia & NZ

The Future in NZ

• NZ is currently reviewing their guidelines
• Proposed changes include:

– Less grades – No soil limits or mass loads calculations – N loading is the primary control mechanism – Less sampling required – No historic organic chemical limits e.g. dioxins – New limits for emerging organic chemicals (EOCs)

NZ only

The Future in Australia

• The NSW guidelines are being reviewed.

– They will adopt the CLAR approaches for Cd, Cu and Zn that are in the SA and WA guidelines. – QLD will again adopt the NSW guidelines. – Other states should follow, when they revise their guidelines.

• There is no push from governments or industry for

further changes.

Australia

• nly

Potential issues

• Biosolids also contain a wide range of organic

contaminants – pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, industrial chemicals

• Very little is known about these chemicals
• Most are not considered in the guidelines.

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in biosolids amended soils

• A survey of 8 PPCPs (with widely different

physicochemical properties) in 14 Australian biosolids conducted1

• A hazard assessment of all known PPCP contaminants in

biosolids found that 10 posed a potential hazard to aquatic ecosystems2

• US field trial found PPCPs in surface water and

groundwater3

1. Langdon et al. 2011. STOTEN, 409, 1075–1081. 2. Langdon et al. 2010. Integ. Environ. Assess. Manag. 6, 663–676. 3. Gotschall et al. 2012. Chemosphere, 87, 194 – 203.

Organic contaminant issues

• There have been two cases where application of highly

contaminated biosolids to agricultural land has led to contamination of groundwater and drinking water by perflourinated compounds (PFCs, e.g. non-stick, stain resistant and water-proofing compounds)

• Decatur, Alabama, USA (Renner 2009; USEPA, 2009)
• Sauerland, Germany (Wilhelm et al., 2008)

Renner R, 2009. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, pp 5164-5164. USEPA, 2009. Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey Sampling and Analysis Technical Report. Wilhelm M et al., 2008. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A. 71, pp 725-733.

• Degradation of PPCPs in field plots was 2.5 to 20 times

slower than, and not as complete as in the laboratory e.g. 0% degradation of triclosan in field plots over 336 days but 49% to 70% degradation in the laboratory over 250 days3, 4 and in USA field trials found 50% degradation

• f triclosan in 180 days5. Probably climate dependent.
• PPCPs found in biosolids > 12 months5
• Biosolids have estrogenic activity and it persists in field

for at least 112 days6.

PPCPs in biosolids amended soils

• 3. Langdon et al. Chemosphere, 86, 1050–1058. 4. Langdon et al. 2011.

Chemosphere, 84, 1556–1562. 5. Gotschall et al. 2012. 87, 194 – 203. 6. Langdon et al. 2014. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 33, 26–28.

Uptake by plants?

• No PPCPs were measured in wheat grown on

biosolids amended soils (Gotschall et al. 2012)

Gotschall et al. 2012. Chemosphere, 87, 194 – 203.

Are organic contaminants the elephant in the room?

• bvious problem or difficult situation that people do

not want to talk about

Biosolids guidelines try to get the balance right

Food quality and human health Environmental protection Beneficial use

Acknowledgements

NBRP: McLaughlin MJ, Heemsbergen DA, Whatmuff M, Broos K, Bell M, Barry G, Nash D, Butler C, Pritchard D, Penney N. SEABRP: Ponsackul P (Thailand), Ha Pham Quang and Tuyen Bui Cach (Vietnam). Organics in Biosolids: Langdon K, Kookana RS, Smernik R, Shareef A, Clarke B, Porter N, Marriott P, Symons R and Blackbeard J.

Acknowledgements

c

Thank you

Professor Michael Warne

University of Coventry UK, University of Queensland, Australia Queensland Department of Environment and Science, Australia

Email: michael.warne@uq.edu.au