Risk of heavy metals from application of sewage sludge

Data on Overall Contamination Rate Indices at NUTS2 level based on National or EU limit values and dependent/independent on pH values. Maximum amount of sewage sludge (Mg ha-1 ) that can be applied at NUTS2 level taking into consideration the EU limit values for concentration of heavy metals. Distribution of potential ecological risk index (RI) before and after the application of sewage sludge over 10 consecutive years at 5 Mg ha-1 rate.
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
Yes
Year: 
2025
Themes: 
Soil Contamination
Soil Contamination›Sewage sludge and ecological risk of heavy metals
Keywords: 
soil contamination

Title:Risk of heavy metals from application of sewage sludge
Description:  In the European Union (EU), a common understanding of the potential harmful effect of sewage sludge (SS) on the environment is regulated by the Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC (SSD). Limit values (LVs) for concentrations of heavy metals in soil are listed in Impact Assessment (IA) of this directive, and they were transposed by EU member states using different criteria. Member states adopted either single limit values or based on soil factors such as pH and texture to define the maximum limit values for concentrations of heavy metals in soils. Our work presents the first quantitative analysis of the SSD at the European level by using the Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) 2009 topsoil database. The reference values at the European level were arranged taking into account the upper value (EU_UL) and the lower value (EU_LL) for each heavy metal (arsenic, cadmium, copper, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead, and zinc) as well as taking into account the pH of the soil (cadmium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, and zinc) as introduced in the SSD Annex IA.

A methodological approach to quantify the impact of sewage sludge (SS) application on agricultural soils in the EU and the United Kingdom. Concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) (Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) in agricultural land from Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) 2009 topsoil database were used as a baseline. Maximum quantities of SS that can be safely applied to agricultural lands were obtained by a modeling procedure was used to determine the maximum safe quantities of SS that can be applied to agricultural lands for each country within the European Member States and the United Kingdom. Accumulation of Heavy Metals (HMs) in soils was modeled by using a representative SS composition, distributed over 10 successive years at 5 Mg ha−1 year−1 rate. Ecological risk impact was assessed by using both the single ecological risk index (E r) and the integrated potential ecological risk index (RI).

Spatial coverage: European Union (EU) + UK
Pixel size: NUTS2 (regional)
Temporal coverage:  2009
Projection: ETRS89

More information about Sewage sludge and contamination

References:

Yunta, F., Schillaci, C., Panagos, P., Van Eynde, E., Wojda, P. and Jones, A., 2024. Quantitative analysis of the compliance of EU Sewage Sludge Directive by using the heavy metal concentrations from LUCAS topsoil database. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31835-y

Yunta, F., Schillaci, C., Panagos, P., Van Eynde, E., Wojda, P. and Jones, A., 2024. Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals from application of sewage sludge on agricultural soils in Europe. European Journal of Soil Science, 75(5), p.e13562.

 

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  • The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Ispra.This work was funded by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and performed under the JRC Exploratory Research project SOLACE (Understanding the links between SOiL pollution and CancEr).
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Reference of source (Citations) :

Yunta, F., Schillaci, C., Panagos, P., Van Eynde, E., Wojda, P. and Jones, A., 2024. Quantitative analysis of the compliance of EU Sewage Sludge Directive by using the heavy metal concentrations from LUCAS topsoil database. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31835-y

Yunta, F., Schillaci, C., Panagos, P., Van Eynde, E., Wojda, P. and Jones, A., 2024. Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals from application of sewage sludge on agricultural soils in Europe. European Journal of Soil Science, 75(5), p.e13562.

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre