Uso de lodos de depuradora en agriculturapatógenos y resistencias a antibióticos
- Ignacio Nadal Rocamora 1
- Clarissa Gondim Porto 1
- Leticia Platero Alonso 1
- Federico Navarro-García 1
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1
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
info
ISSN: 1697-2791
Year of publication: 2015
Issue Title: El Suelo: un Reto para la Salud
Volume: 15
Issue: 2
Pages: 113-120
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista de Salud Ambiental
Abstract
The use of water treatment plant sludge to restore degraded soils is customary agricultural practice, but it could be dangerous from the point of view of both health and the environment. A transient increase of either pathogenic or indicator microbial populations, whose persistence in time is variable and attributed to the characteristics of the soil (types of materials in the soil), any amendments (origin and treatments it has undergone) or the weather (humidity and temperature mainly), has often been detected in soils treated with this kind of waste. Given their origin, water treatment plant sludges could lead to the transmission of a) pathogens and b) antibiotic-resistant microorganisms to human beings through the food chain and cause the spreading of antibiotic resistances as a result of their increase and persistence in the soil for variable periods of time. However, Spanish legislation regulating the use of sludges in the farming industry is based on a very restricted microbiological criterion. Thus, we believe better parameters should be established to appropriately inform of the state of health of soils treated with water treatment plant sludge, including aspects which are not presently assessed such as antibiotic resistance