Open-air storage with and without composting as post-treatment methods to degrade pharmaceutical residues in anaerobically digested and dewatered sewage sludge

Abstract

Over a period of 12 months, the fate of three hormones, 12 antibiotics and 30 pharmaceutically active substances (PhACs) was investigated during open-air storage without and with composting of anaerobically digested and dewatered sewage sludge. The effect of oxidation conditions during storage on degradation of hormones and PhACs in the sludge biomass was also examined. Under summer and winter conditions in Uppsala County, Sweden. two field-scale sludge windrows were constructed: open-air storage of sewage sludge windrow without composting (NO-COM)) and open-air storage windrow with composting (COM). NO-COM achieved effective removal of Sigma Hormones (85%) and Sigma Antibiotics (95%), but lower removal of Sigma PhACs (34%), during the study year. The top layers of the sludge pile had significantly lower concentrations of Sigma PhACs (3100-5100 ng/g ash) than deeper layers (8000-11,000 ng/g ash). After one year of composting, the degradation in the COM windrow resulted in concentrations of Sigma Hormones (

Keywords

Antibiotics; Hormones; Pharmaceuticals; Sewage sludge; Compost

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2022, volume: 806, article number: 151271
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Jönsson, Håkan

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151271

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115377