Biosolids Applied to Land
Advancing Standards and Practices
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This project was supported by Grant No. X-82862501 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
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COMMITTEE ON TOXICANTS AND PATHOGENS IN BIOSOLIDS APPLIED TO LAND
Members
THOMAS A.BURKE (Chair),
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
LAWRENCE R.CURTIS,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
CHARLES N.HAAS,
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ELLEN Z.HARRISON,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
WILLIAM E.HALPERIN,
New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey
JOHN B.KANEENE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
GREG KESTER,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin
STEPHEN P.MCGRATH,
Institute for Arable Crops Research, Rothamsted, England
THOMAS E.MCKONE,
University of California, Berkeley, California
IAN L.PEPPER,
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
SURESH D.PILLAI,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
FREDERICK G.POHLAND,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
ROBERT S.REIMERS,
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
ROSALIND A.SCHOOF,
Gradient Corporation, Mercer Island, Washington
DONALD L.SPARKS,
University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
ROBERT C.SPEAR,
University of California, Berkeley, California
Staff
SUSAN N.J.MARTEL, Study Director
MARK C.GIBSON, Program Officer
ROBERTA M.WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
RUTH E.CROSSGROVE, Editor
JESSICA BROCK, Senior Project Assistant
MIRSADA KARALIC-LONCAREVIC, Research Assistant
KELLY A.CLARK, Editorial Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY1
Members
GORDON ORIANS (Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle
JOHN DOULL (Vice Chair),
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City
DAVID ALLEN,
University of Texas, Austin
INGRID C.BURKE,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins
THOMAS BURKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLIAM L.CHAMEIDES,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
CHRISTOPHER B.FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California
DANIEL S.GREENBAUM,
Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts
BRUCE D.HAMMOCK,
University of California, Davis
ROGENE HENDERSON,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CAROL HENRY,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
ROBERT HUGGETT,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
JAMES H.JOHNSON,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
JAMES F.KITCHELL,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
DANIEL KREWSKI,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
JAMES A.MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan
WILLEM F.PASSCHIER,
Health Council of the Netherlands, The Hague
ANN POWERS,
Pace University School of Law, White Plains, New York
LOUISE M.RYAN,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
KIRK SMITH,
University of California, Berkeley
LISA SPEER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, New York
Senior Staff
JAMES J.REISA, Director
DAVID J.POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Senior Program Director for Applied Ecology
RAYMOND A.WASSEL, Senior Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Program Director for the Committee on Toxicology
ROBERTA M.WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
K.JOHN HOLMES, Senior Staff Officer
SUSAN N.J.MARTEL, Senior Staff Officer
SUZANNE VAN DRUNICK, Senior Staff Officer
RUTH E.CROSSGROVE, Managing Editor
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD
Members
RICHARD G.LUTHY (Chair),
Stanford University, Stanford, California
JOAN B.ROSE (Vice Chair),
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
RICHELLE M.ALLEN-KING,
Washington State University, Pullman
GREGORY B.BAECHER,
University of Maryland, College Park
KENNETH R.BRADBURY,
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, Madison
JAMES CROOK,
CH2M Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
EFI FOUFOULA-GEORGIOU,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
PETER GLEICK,
Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, Oakland, California
STEVEN P.GLOSS,
U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona
JOHN LETEY, JR.,
University of California, Riverside
DIANE M.MCKNIGHT,
University of Colorado, Boulder
CHRISTINE L.MOE,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
RUTHERFORD H.PLATT,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
JERALD L.SCHNOOR,
University of Iowa, Iowa City
LEONARD SHABMAN,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
R.RHODES TRUSSELL,
Montgomery Watson, Pasadena, California
Staff
STEPHEN D.PARKER, Director
LAURA J.EHLERS, Senior Staff Officer
JEFFREY W.JACOBS, Senior Staff Officer
WILLIAM S.LOGAN, Senior Staff Officer
MARK C.GIBSON, Staff Officer
M.JEANNE AQUILINO, Administrative Associate
ELLEN A.DE GUZMAN, Research Associate
PATRICIA JONES KERSHAW, Study/Research Associate
ANITA A.HALL, Administrative Assistant
ANIKE L.JOHNSON, Project Assistant
JON Q.SANDERS, Project Assistant
OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
The Airliner Cabin Environment and Health of Passengers and Crew (2002)
Arsenic in Drinking Water: 2001 Update (2001)
Evaluating Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs (2001)
Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act (2001)
A Risk-Management Strategy for PCB-Contaminated Sediments (2001)
Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury (2000)
Strengthening Science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Research-Management and Peer-Review Practices (2000)
Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment (2000)
Copper in Drinking Water (2000)
Ecological Indicators for the Nation (2000)
Waste Incineration and Public Health (1999)
Hormonally Active Agents in the Environment (1999)
Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter (3 reports, 1998–2001)
Ozone-Forming Potential of Reformulated Gasoline (1999)
Risk-Based Waste Classification in California (1999)
Arsenic in Drinking Water (1999)
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (1998)
The National Research Council’s Committee on Toxicology: The First 50 Years (1997)
Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet (1996)
Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996)
Science and the Endangered Species Act (1995)
Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries (1995)
Biologic Markers (5 reports, 1989–1995)
Review of EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (3 reports, 1994–1995)
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I–IV (1991–1993)
Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991)
Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991)
Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990)
Copies of these reports may be ordered from the National Academy Press
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Preface
In this report, biosolids are defined as sewage sludge that has been treated to meet the regulatory requirements for land application set out in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40 (Part 503). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Part 503 rule and is responsible for overseeing the national biosolids program. The land-application requirements include concentration limits and loading rates for chemical pollutants, treatment and use requirements for controlling and reducing pathogens and the attraction of vectors, and management practices. The requirements are intended to protect public health and the environment from any reasonably anticipated adverse effects. Over the past decade, questions have been raised about the adequacy of the chemical and pathogen standards for protecting public health. To help address the questions and the requirement for periodic reassessment of the Part 503 rule, EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to independently review the technical basis of the chemical and pathogen regulations for biosolids, focusing only on human health.
In this report, the NRC’s Committee on Toxicants and Pathogens in Biosolids Applied to Land (membership and biographical information provided in Appendix A) searched for evidence on human health effects related to biosolids exposure and the technical methods and approaches used by EPA to establish its human-health-based chemical and pathogen standards for biosolids. The NRC and the committee are aware that some interested parties were anticipating that this report might make a determination of whether EPA should continue to promote land application of biosolids. However, such a
determination was not part of the committee’s charge. The committee agrees that regulations must be adequate to protect human health and the environment and that they must be complied with and enforced. The committee was asked to focus its review on approaches for identifying human health hazards, for assessing exposure to those hazards, and for assessing risk from the exposures. This report offers numerous recommendations to update and strengthen the scientific credibility of the biosolids regulations and to ensure their consistent implementation.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Robert Cooper, BioVir Laboratories, Inc., Benicia, California; Alison Cullen, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Charles Henry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Cecil Lue-Hing, Cecil Lue-Hing & Associates, Inc., Burr Ridge, Illinois; Philip Landrigan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York; Aaron Margolin, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire; Penny Newman, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Riverside, California; George O’Connor, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; Robert Southworth, Marshall, Virginia; Alan Stern, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jersey; Willy Verstraete, University of Gent, Gent, Belgium; and William Yanko, Big Bear City, California.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Michael Kavanaugh, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., Emeryville, California, and Ronald Estabrook, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
The committee gratefully acknowledges the individuals who made presentations to the committee at its public meetings. A list of those individuals is
provided in Appendix B. The committee also wishes to thank EPA staff members Alan Hais, Robert Bastian, Alan Rubin, James Smith, and Charles White for their assistance in providing documents and information.
The committee is grateful for the assistance of the NRC staff in preparing the report. It particularly wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Susan Martel, project director, who coordinated the project and contributed to the committee’s report. Other staff members who contributed to this effort are James J.Reisa, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; Roberta M.Wedge, program director for risk analysis; Mark Gibson, program officer (Water Science and Technology Board); Ruth E.Crossgrove, editor; Mirsada Karalic-Loncarevic, research assistant; and Jessica Brock, senior project assistant.
Finally, I would especially like to thank all the members of the committee for their efforts throughout the development of this report.
Thomas A.Burke, Ph.D. Chair, Committee on Toxicants and Pathogens in Biosolids Applied to Land
Abbreviations
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
CFU
colony forming units
CWA
Clean Water Act
EQ
exceptional quality
HEI
highly exposed individual
MEI
most exposed individual
MPN
most probable number
MT
metric tons
NIOSH
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NRC
National Research Council
NSSS
National Sewage Sludge Survey
OIG
EPA Office of Inspector General
PCBs
polychlorinated biphenyls
PEC
Pathogen Equivalency Committee
PFRP
process to further reduce pathogens
PFU
plaque-forming unit
POTW
publicly owned treatment works
PSRP
process to significantly reduce pathogens
QMRA
quantitative microbial risk assessment
RME
reasonable maximum exposure
TEF
toxicity equivalency factor
TS
total solids