Author： Chrostowski Paul
Publisher： Water Environment Federation
ISSN： 1938-6478
Source： Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, Vol.2002, Iss.3, 2002-01, pp. : 1-12
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
Human health related complaints have been received by the biosolids industry from residents around points of generation, composting facilities, and land application sites. These complaints have ranged in severity from odor and headache to death and have implicated pathogens and gases as potential causative agents. The application of scientific methods addressing causation is necessary to determine if these claims have any validity. This paper will introduce tools that can be used by facility owner/operators to assess causation in health claims involving potential exposure to biosolids. Causation criteria including Koch's postulates, the Bradford Hill criteria, and concepts from risk assessment will be introduced and applied. Case studies involving investigation of mortality and ammonia exposure claims associated with land application of Class B biosolids will be presented. The results of these case studies show that exposure to biosolids did not cause the health effects that were claimed.
Related content
Access to resources
Recommend
Access to resources