Emerging Sanitary Engineering of Biosolids: Elimination of Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Coliforms by means of Atmospheric Pressure Air Cold Plasma
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 25, Issue 2
Abstract
Biosolids contain high amounts of human pathogenic bacteria that are excreted in feces and urine. The enteric pathogenic bacteria Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli (enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic variants), coliforms, Clostridium sp., Campylobacter sp., Listeria sp., and Yersinia sp., might be present in biosolids. A large proportion of these bacteria are both human pathogenic and zoonotic, which means that they can cause infections in both humans and animals. In addition, these organisms have a strong ability to persistently adapt to changes in the surrounding environment. According to the 86/278 EC Directive on the protection of the environment and of the soil when sewage sludge is used in agriculture, the minimum requirement for alternative treatments to produce sanitized sludge is defined as containing <500 colony forming units E. coli/g (cfu/g) and 0 Salmonella sp. in 50 g wet weight. This study reviews the current technologies employed for the reuse of treated biosolids in agriculture and unveils an emerging process that could lead to pathogenic microorganism reduction. The process refers to atmospheric pressure air cold plasma of electrical discharges and appears to be an effective treatment with the potential to destroy pathogenic cells of disease-causing and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as E. coli, coliforms, and Salmonella sp. of different serotypes.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the staff at the Veterinary Laboratory of Ioannina (Greece), for their support in the preparation of this work.
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Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 25 • Issue 2 • April 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2020
Accepted: Dec 8, 2020
Published online: Feb 9, 2021
Published in print: Apr 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 9, 2021
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