Local Health Impacts of Land Application of Sewage Sludge

描述(由申请人提供)：美国大约16,000个城市污水处理厂每年产生超过700万吨(干重)的剩余污泥；大多数作为免费肥料应用于农田。这种污泥也被称为生物固体，由家庭、街道、学校、医院和工业废水处理产生的沉淀物组成。除了对农业有用的营养物质外，污泥还含有病原体、过敏原、金属、工业化学品和药物。随着污泥土地利用的增加，邻近的农村居民报告了健康问题和生活质量下降。被政府官员驳斥的居民对当局以及政府机构和大学研究人员进行的健康研究不太信任，这些机构和大学研究人员与污泥生产商和从污泥处置中获利的行业有联系。许多受影响的社区都在低收入的农村地区，这使得污泥的土地利用成为一个环境正义问题。自20世纪90年代以来，来自全国各地的S社区成员通过会议和互联网组织起来，寻求帮助，对污水污泥土地利用可能造成的健康问题进行研究，并教育公民和政府官员。利用先前关于人类接触猪粪便的研究中开发的CBPR方法，并在最近的一次参与性研讨会上巩固的社区和研究伙伴关系的基础上，我们建议对污泥成分的异地迁移进行评估，并将其与允许使用污泥的地点的邻居的流行病学研究联系起来。我们将招募北卡罗来纳州和弗吉尼亚州允许污泥应用地点的邻居参与为期一年的环境暴露、症状、生理功能和与健康相关的生活质量的纵向研究。两类地区的邻居将参与其中：发放了许可证但尚未申请土地的地区；以及最近申请了淤泥的地区。招聘将伴随着在经验丰富的社区组织的领导下进行的环境健康和环境正义教育。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately 16,000 municipal waste water treatment plants in the US produce over seven million tons (dry weight) of residual sludge each year; most is applied to agricultural lands as free fertilizer. This sludge, also known as biosolids, consists of sediments resulting from the treatment of waste water from homes, streets, schools, hospitals, and industries. In addition to nutrients useful for agriculture sludges contain pathogens, allergens, metals, industrial chemicals and Pharmaceuticals. As land application of sludges has increased, neighboring rural residents have reported health problems and impaired quality of life. Residents whose concerns have been dismissed by government officials have low trust in authorities and in health research conducted by government agencies and university researchers who have ties with sludge generators and industries that profit from sludge disposal. Many affected communities are in low income, rural areas, making land application of sludge an environmental justice issue. Since the 1990's community members from across the country have organized through conferences and the internet to seek assistance in conducting research into health problems that may be caused by land application of sewage sludge, and to educate citizens and government officials. Using CBPR methods developed in prior research on human exposure to hog waste, and building on community and research partnerships solidified at a recent participatory workshop, we propose to conduct an assessment of off-site migration of sludge constituents linked to an epidemiologic study of neighbors of sites permitted for land application of sludges. We will recruit neighbors of sites permitted for sludge application in North Carolina and Virginia to participate in a one-year longitudinal study of environmental exposures, symptoms, physiological functioning, and health- related quality of life. Neighbors in two types of areas will participate: areas where permits have been issued but no land application has yet occurred; and areas where sludges have been recently applied. Recruitment will be accompanied by environmental health and environmental justice education conducted under the leadership of experienced community based organizations.