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Multimedia Sampling During The Application Of Biosolids On A Land Test Site
Citation:
Foote, E. A., C. M. ACHESON, E. F. BARTH, R. F. HERRMANN, R. C. BRENNER, D. B. Harris, S. J. Naber, R. H. Forbes, Jr., L. L. McConnell, AND P. D. Millner. Multimedia Sampling During The Application Of Biosolids On A Land Test Site. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-11/020, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To evaluate multimedia sampling methods and techniques prior to, during, and following the application of biosolids from a local municipal wastewater treatment plant to a 2-acre agricultural grassland.
Description:
This report documents the approach, methodologies, results, and interpretation of a collaborative research study conducted by the National Risk Management Research Center (NRMRL) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) Office of Research and Development (ORD); The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS). The project was carried out at the Piedmont Research Station of NCDA&CS in Salisbury, NC. This study was designed to evaluate multimedia sampling methods and techniques prior to, during, and following the application of biosolids from a local municipal wastewater treatment plant to a 2-acre agricultural grassland. The multimedia sampling techniques included methods for measuring various components contained in the applied biosolids, entrained in aerosol emissions, discharged into the air as volatile and semi-volatile gases and odorants, and collected from the soil surface and subsurface of the applied grassland. This research was not designed to investigate health-related incidents and, therefore, does not constitute a health effects research study. Field activities were divided into three tasks: bioaerosol and particulate matter sampling, volatile organic compound and odor sampling and land sampling. During the period of August 2004 to January 2005, 35 groups of analytes were measured using 13 sampling techniques. Several analytes were measured in more than one matrix. In total, 49 analyte-matrix combinations were measured. The multimedia approach and numerous analyte-matrix combinations are unique for a field study on the land application of biosolids.