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Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa
Heavy metals in high concentrations can cause health and environmental damage. Nanosilver is an emerging heavy metal which has a bright future of use in many applications. Here we report on the levels of silver and other heavy metals in municipal sewage sludge. Five towns in Limpopo province of Sout...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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MDPI
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3986993/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24595211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302569 |
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author | Shamuyarira, Kudakwashe K. Gumbo, Jabulani R. |
author_facet | Shamuyarira, Kudakwashe K. Gumbo, Jabulani R. |
author_sort | Shamuyarira, Kudakwashe K. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Heavy metals in high concentrations can cause health and environmental damage. Nanosilver is an emerging heavy metal which has a bright future of use in many applications. Here we report on the levels of silver and other heavy metals in municipal sewage sludge. Five towns in Limpopo province of South Africa were selected and the sludge from their wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was collected and analysed. The acid digested sewage sludge samples were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) methods. The concentrations of silver found were low, but significant, in the range 0.22 to 21.93 mg/kg dry mass. The highest concentration of silver was found in Louis Trichardt town with a concentration of 21.93 ± 0.38 mg/kg dry mass while the lowest was Thohoyandou with a concentration of 6.13 ± 0.12 mg/kg dry mass. A control sludge sample from a pit latrine had trace levels of silver at 0.22 ± 0.01 mg/kg dry mass. The result showed that silver was indeed present in the wastewater sewage sludge and at present there is no DWAF guideline standard. The average Cd concentration was 3.10 mg/kg dry mass for Polokwane municipality. Polokwane and Louis Trichardt municipalities exhibited high levels of Pb, in excess DWAF guidelines, in sludge at 102.83 and 171.87 mg/kg respectfully. In all the WWTPs the zinc and copper concentrations were in excess of DWAF guidelines. The presence of heavy metals in the sewage sludge in excess of DWAF guidelines presents environmental hazards should the sludge be applied as a soil ameliorant. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3986993 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-39869932014-04-15 Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa Shamuyarira, Kudakwashe K. Gumbo, Jabulani R. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Heavy metals in high concentrations can cause health and environmental damage. Nanosilver is an emerging heavy metal which has a bright future of use in many applications. Here we report on the levels of silver and other heavy metals in municipal sewage sludge. Five towns in Limpopo province of South Africa were selected and the sludge from their wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was collected and analysed. The acid digested sewage sludge samples were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) methods. The concentrations of silver found were low, but significant, in the range 0.22 to 21.93 mg/kg dry mass. The highest concentration of silver was found in Louis Trichardt town with a concentration of 21.93 ± 0.38 mg/kg dry mass while the lowest was Thohoyandou with a concentration of 6.13 ± 0.12 mg/kg dry mass. A control sludge sample from a pit latrine had trace levels of silver at 0.22 ± 0.01 mg/kg dry mass. The result showed that silver was indeed present in the wastewater sewage sludge and at present there is no DWAF guideline standard. The average Cd concentration was 3.10 mg/kg dry mass for Polokwane municipality. Polokwane and Louis Trichardt municipalities exhibited high levels of Pb, in excess DWAF guidelines, in sludge at 102.83 and 171.87 mg/kg respectfully. In all the WWTPs the zinc and copper concentrations were in excess of DWAF guidelines. The presence of heavy metals in the sewage sludge in excess of DWAF guidelines presents environmental hazards should the sludge be applied as a soil ameliorant. MDPI 2014-03-03 2014-03 /pmc/articles/PMC3986993/ /pubmed/24595211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302569 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Shamuyarira, Kudakwashe K. Gumbo, Jabulani R. Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title | Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title_full | Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title_fullStr | Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title_short | Assessment of Heavy Metals in Municipal Sewage Sludge: A Case Study of Limpopo Province, South Africa |
title_sort | assessment of heavy metals in municipal sewage sludge: a case study of limpopo province, south africa |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3986993/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24595211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110302569 |
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