Ecotoxicological evaluation of the bioleaching treatment of sewage sludges contaminated with heavy metals
- BRI, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
- INRS-Eau, Ste-Foy, Quebec (Canada)
- Analex, Laval, Quebec (Canada)
- Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
A new decontamination technology of sewage sludge, the bioleaching of heavy metals, was assessed using ecotoxicity bioassays. Sewage sludges, treated or non-treated, were mixed with a non-contaminated soil used as a negative control at a rate of 1 to 100 g per liter of soil. Aqueous elutriates (TCLP) of the sludges were used for the aqueous bioassays. The bioleaching of metals reduced the toxic effects associated with sludge for most of the bioassays, although the sludge after treatment exhibited an inherent level of toxicity at high loading rates. With respect to seed germination, bioleached sludge was less toxic (EC50 barley: 53 g/L; lettuce: 13.6) than the non-treated (72; 16.8 g/L). The treated sludge stimulated the barley growth at > 5 6 g/L. The non-treated causes an inhibition at 100 g/L. Earthworms survived in up to 56 g/L of bioleached sludge, compared to 32 g/L of the non-treated. The Microtox{reg_sign} EC50s were 4.0% and 8.4% for nontreated and treated sludges respectively. No genotoxicity (SOS Chromotest) in the sludge elutriates was detected, and no significant treatment effects were noticeable using the lettuce root elongation bioassay. The Daphnia magna mortality of the elutriate was increased with sludge treatment. However, the lettuce root elongation and D. magna mortality bioassay results were difficult to interpret due to variability in standard deviations. This study demonstrated that the ecotoxicological battery of bioassays, and particularly direct contact bioassays, can be used to assess sewage sludge remediation technologies.
- OSTI ID:
- 372528
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9641%%605
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Evaluation of leaching and ecotoxicological properties of sewage sludge-fly ash mixtures
Sensitivity of screening-level toxicity tests using soils from a former petroleum refinery