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HEAVY METAL ASPECTS OF COMPOST USE
Citation:
Ryan*, J A., R. L. Chaney, U. Kukier, S. L. Brown, G. Siebielec, M. Malik, AND J. S. Angle. HEAVY METAL ASPECTS OF COMPOST USE. ISBN/ISSN 156670460X, Chapter 16, Peter J. Stoffella and Brian A. Kahn (ed.), Compost Utilization in Horticultural Cropping Systems. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, , 324-359, (2001).
Description:
Composts prepared from municipal solid waste, biosolids, food processing wastes, manures, yard debris, and agricultural byproducts and residues are increasingly available for agricultural use. Although many benefits are possible from use of composts, these products must be safe for sustainable agriculture for their use to be permitting by governments. In the US these efforts culminated in the development of the U.S. Environmental protection Agency's Clean Water Act Section 503 Rule on land application of biosolids. The public make comments to identify errors and omissions and provide othe data to improve the scientific basis of the rule. The scientific community thoroughly evaluated data from many experiments to develop improved risk assessment models to protect soil fertility and food-chain safety during use of composts and biosolids. Development of the final corrected 503 Rule is discussed.