The Author
POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED RISKS WITH COMPOSTING OR COMPOST USE
The beneficial use of wastes or their products often raises the issue of potential risks.
The major risks that have been associated with composting facilities are bioaerosols and odors. Those associated with the product have been heavy metals, pathogens, emerging organic chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and the industrial organics, which are discharged into the wastewater or delivered to the compost site as part of the waste stream. Proper design and operation of com-posting facilities reduces the dispersion of bioaerosols. Odor control is a function of facility design and management. Composting is extremely effective in eliminating pathogens. There is more recent evidence that many emerging organic chemicals are destroyed by composting. In the past decade, the waste stream that is being compos-ted has become cleaner. Heavy metals in biosolids have been significantly reduced by cleaning the wastewater. U.S. environmental regulations have been a major fac-tor. Although very little municipal solid waste (MSW) composting occurs in the United States, recycling has reduced the contamination of municipal solid waste.
Consequently, the compost products produced are much cleaner and safer to use.
Workers are the most exposed individuals. They are exposed more frequently than the public and to higher concentrations of pathogens and bioaerosols. There is no evidence in the United States that workers have become sicker than other municipal workers or the public in general. In Europe, there have been some indications that workers in enclosed MSW composting facilities have become sick from bioaerosols.
These aspects are discussed in detail in subsequent chapters of this book.
It is very important to put risks in perspective since we are at all times subject to risks from the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. We are also at risk from external sources, such as the automobile we drive, diseases, accidents, and other miscellaneous incidents. In an article written in Time magazine on December 4, 2006, Jeffrey Kluger puts the risks we encounter in perspective. Furthermore, he questions “why we worry about the things we shouldn’t and more the things we should.” In other words, we worry more about probabilities than possibilities. The best example is what happened in South Korea in 2008. Thousands of persons pro-tested when the government decided to permit the resale of beef from the United States. The protests were against mad cow disease. There has never been a single case of mad cow disease in the United States. Yet the Koreans encounter many more possible diseases or risks to their lives. How many of these people eat chicken or eggs contaminated with Salmonella? How many do not wash their hands after using toilets? How many ignore good medical practices and die from heart attacks, cancer, and respiratory diseases? To put the dangers and situations we face and encounter into perspective, the following provides information on what occurs in our popula-tion annually (CDC, 2004, 2007):
• Total residential deaths: 2,426,264
• Automobile accidents: 45,316
• Unintentional falls: 20,823
• Lightning: 90
• Unintentional poisoning: 27,531
• Accident unintentional injuries: 121,599
• Diseases kill 2.43 million people each year
• Diseases of the heart: 631,636
− Yet, 20% of all adults still smoke.
− We consume foods that have trans fats or other cholesterol factors.
− We eat high-salt foods.
• Malignant neoplasm: 559,888
• Cerebrovascular diseases: 137,119
• Influenza and pneumonia: 56,326
• Diabetes: 72,449
• Chronic liver and cirrhosis: 27,555
• Septicemia: 34,234
• Bird flu: 0
• Mad cow disease: 0
• Other: 447,805 To put things in perspective:
• Food-related illnesses and death in the United States
• 76 million illnesses
• 300,000 hospitalizations
• 5,000 deaths
• 2,810 nutritional deficiency deaths
• Number of confined bacterial and parasitic infections
• Salmonella: 6,829
• Listeria: 158
• Toxoplasma: 2,500
• Campylobacter: 5,827
• Shigella: 2,869
• Cryptosporidium: 1,225
• E. coli O157:H7: 547
If you examine these data, you immediately realize that the potential for diseases or illnesses as a result of composting or utilization of the product is nil and insignifi-cant. For example, it was suggested that we should be concerned with mad cow dis-ease since prions may not be biodegraded during the composting project. There has not been a single case of the disease in the United States, and worldwide the cases have been from ingesting beef. Even if prions could exist in the compost, what is the potential for human ingestion and disease? Most people I know do not eat compost.
In 2007, there was contamination of spinach by E. coli O157:H7 in California result-ing from the use of contaminated water and the application of uncomposted manure.
Some major producers of vegetables decided not to use compost. Compost properly produced is disinfected and the potential survival of E. coli O157:H7 is nil.
Mr. Kluger states: “Our concern regarding risks is that we worry more about probabilities than possibilities. We build barricades against perceived dangers while leaving ourselves exposed to real ones. For example, we dread anything that poses a greater risk for cancer than everyday potential dangers. We feel more comfortable with events, which we believe we can control than with events, which we have little or no control.”
However, since a local population will perceive a greater environmental risk if a composting facility is built near them, it is incumbent to design and operate com-posting facilities with minimal exposures to environmental aspects such as odors, dust, and noise. It is important to communicate and convey to the public the very low danger to health from composting facilities. For example, bioaerosols emissions from composting facilities rarely extend beyond 300 feet (see Chapter 13). Pathogens are destroyed by composting. Odors are a nuisance. They do not represent a health problem (Chapter 9). With our existing technology and knowledge, facilities can be designed and operated with minimal odor and other impacts to the environment.
The use of compost sequesters carbon and reduces carbon dioxide emissions.
Composting is the ultimate in recycling. Functionally, the only use of compost is to the benefit of our society. Composting reduces dependence on landfills, incineration, and other nonfriendly environmental technologies. The use of compost improves our soils to reduce runoff and erosion, increases the organic content of the soil for better water utilization by plants, and improves soil structure for better soil aeration for better plant development.
One of the most important aspects of this book is to provide the reader with basic concepts of technology. Another is to provide extensive resources. It is obviously impossible to cover all aspects of composting technology in detail. Therefore, for those readers wanting additional information, numerous references are provided at the end of each chapter.
Relatively few books have been written on composting. The more complete books have been written between ten and twenty years ago. However, there are numerous reports, compendia, proceedings of symposia, and documents on specific subjects.
Readers need to discern as to the validity of the written word. In this book, I have attempted to document statements whenever possible through referenced journals.
This was not always possible. The Internet is very valuable, but often provides erro-neous information. When looking up information on the Internet, the reader should observe who provides the information. If the source is a university, government entity, or medical authority, the information may be relied upon. One of the best resources is the U.S. Composting Council annual meeting, and attending workshops.
Some of the more important resources are:
• BioCycle magazine
• Compost Science & Utilization
• Haug, R. T., The Practical Handbook of Compost Engineering, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, 1993
• Epstein, E., The Science of Composting, CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, 1997
• Rynk, R., van de Kamp, M., Willson, G. B., Singley, M. E., Richard, T. L., Kolega, J. L., Gouin, F. R. Laliberty, L., Kay, D., Murphy, D. W., Hoitink, H. A. J., and Briton, W. F., On-Farm Composting Handbook, Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, Ithaca, NY, 1992
• Chiumenti, A., Chiumenti, R., Diaz, L., Savage, G. M., Eggerth, L. L., and Goldstein, N., Modern Composting Technologies, BioCycle, Emmaus, PA, 2005
CONCLUSION
Composting is an excellent waste management technology. It can provide excellent disinfection of wastes so that they may be used as a resource rather than disposed of as waste. Implementing composting is much more protective of the environment than landfilling or incineration. Today there is no reason to produce odors or endan-ger the public or workers. We can design and manage composting facilities in an environmentally accepted manner.
The use of compost in both developing and developed nations can provide human-ity with many benefits. The benefit to developing countries is enormous. It can result in destruction of several food-borne diseases, provide nutrients for crop production, conserve moisture in the soil, and improve soil conditions for better crop growth. In developed countries, composting can produce a product that can improve plant growth, reduce runoff and erosion, and minimize landfilling or incineration of waste.
REFERENCES
Beccari, G. 1920. Apparatus for working garbage and refuse of towns. U.S. Patent 1,329,105, January 27, 1920; reissue 15,417, July 25, 1922.
Bolan, M. P., Nieswand, G. H., and Singley, M. E. 1980. Sludge composting and utilization:
Statewide applicability for New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University.
Breidenbach, A. W. 1971. Composting of municipal solid wastes in the United States. Rep.
Pub. SW-47r. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
CDC. 2004. Data and statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA.
CDC. 2007. Data and statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA.
Epstein, E. 1997. The science of composting. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Epstein, E., Willson, G. B., Burge, W. D., Mullen, D. C., and Enkiri, N. K. 1976. A forced aeration system for composting wastewater sludge. J. Water Pollut. Control Fed.
48:688–94.
Hogg, D., Barth, J., Favoino, E., Centemero, M., Caimi, V., Amlinger, F., Devliegher, W., Brinton, W., and Antler, S. 2002. Comparison of compost standards within the EU, North America and Australasia. The Old Academy, Banbury Oxon, UK
Howard, A. 1935. The manufacture of humus by the Indore process. J. Royal Soc. Arts lxxiv:26–60.
Howard, A. 1943. An agricultural testament. NY: Oxford University Press.
Hyatt, G. W. 1995. Economic, scientific, and infrastructure basis for using municipal composts in agriculture. In Agriculture utilization of urban and industrial by-products. Special Pub. 58. Madison, WS: American Society of Agronomy.
Kasper Jr., V., and Derr, D. D. 1981. Sludge composting and utilization: An economic analysis of the Camden sludge composting facility. New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University.
Kluger, J. 2006. Time Magazine. December 4, 2006. Time Inc. New York.
Maynard, A. A. 1994. Seventy years of research on waste composting and utilization at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Compost Sci. Util. 2(2):13–21.
Martin, D. L., and Gershuny, G. 1992. The Rodale book of composting. Emmaus, PA:
Rodale Press.
North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. 1888. Composts—Formulas, analyses, and value. Bulletin 61. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Raleigh, NC.
Shakespeare, W. 1997. Hamlet. In The complete works of William Shakespeare. Wordsworth Royal. Ware, Hertfordshire, U.K.
Singley, M. E., Higgins, A. J., and Frumkin-Rosengaus, M. 1982. Sludge composting and uti-lization—Design and operating manual. New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University.
Tussler, T. 1909. Five hundred pointes of good husbandrie. Dobell Press.
Van Vuren, J. P. J. 1948. Soil fertility and sewage. London: Faber and Faber Ltd.
Washington, G. 2005. Farmer, being an account of his home life and agricultural activities.
Paul Leland Haworth, Rindle. Project Gutenberg. www.gutenberg.org.
15