ABSTRACT
The early literature dealt with land application of sewage, effluent, or low-solids sewage sludge. This literature raised concerns about the use of raw sewage, which could result in animal or human health infections. The existence of pathogens in soils and on plants depends on their survival of the wastewater treatment processes and biosolids treatment, method of land application, soil conditions, and environmental conditions. Although many of the biosolids’ processes can result in very effective disinfection and the application of these biosolids does not represent a health hazard, public perception may be sufficiently significant so that applying biosolids to certain food chain crops must be avoided. When low-solid biosolids are applied by spraying on land, the potential exists for pathogens to be aerosolized. Workers, in particular, may be subjected to these pathogens and become infected. The survival and potential movement of pathogens through soils to groundwater depend on several edaphic and climatic factors.
