Risk Assessment and Regulatory Overview of Sewage Sludge

With the increase of the global population, the acceleration of urbanization and the impact of climate change, water scarcity is becoming a serious problem. More and more attention has been paid to sewage sludge treated by wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), as potential water resources and soil amendments in agriculture. The application of biosolids can not only increase organic matter and nutrients in soil, but also contribute to the resource utilization of waste. However, the use of biosolids also poses potential environmental and health risks. This review discusses the risks of using biosolids, the harmful substances containing in biosolids, summarizes their concentrations that cause damage to our health, and provides reference standards for the subsequent improvement of national regulations.