Wastewater reuse in agriculture: A review of soil and crops parasitic contamination, associated health risks and mitigation approach
Background: Wastewater reuse in agriculture can potentially result in adverse health implications including parasitic diseases spread. Trichuris, Ascaris, and Giardia are major pathogenic parasites of concern associated with this practice. This review investigated their occurrence in wastewater, a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Health Engineering and Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ehemj.com/browse.php?a_id=1086&sid=1&slc_lang=en&ftxt=1 |
| Summary: | Background: Wastewater reuse in agriculture can potentially result in adverse health implications
including parasitic diseases spread. Trichuris, Ascaris, and Giardia are major pathogenic parasites of
concern associated with this practice. This review investigated their occurrence in wastewater, and
environmental components reached through wastewater application, including irrigated soil and
grown crops. Exposure pathways and evidence for health risks were also explored.
Methods: Several databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science,
and ResearchGate) and other sites were searched for published literature up to 2021. The searched
keywords include wastewater reuse, soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), Ascaris, Trichuris, Giardia,
crop contamination, soil contamination, health risk, epidemiological studies, exposure pathways, and
risk mitigation. Overall, 160 papers have been yielded. After screening for relevance, 60 studies were
considered for inclusion.
Results: Giardia, Ascaris, and Trichuris were frequently detected in wastewater with up to 5 × 105
cysts/L and 5.73 × 103 eggs/L. Concentrations of 750 eggs/100 g and 2.8 × 104 cysts/100 g were reported
in wastewater irrigated soil. Ascaris was reported in irrigated crops with up to 70 eggs/kg versus 6.6 × 103
cysts/kg for Giardia, depending on the type of crops. Epidemiological studies provided evidence
supporting the increase of ascariasis, trichuriasis, and giardiasis diseases related to the exposure to
wastewater irrigated soil and crops.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that wastewater reuse in agriculture leads to contamination of soil,
and crops with pathogenic parasites, increasing health risks in the exposed groups. To remedy this
issue, protection measures, including a multi-barrier approach, can be applied to mitigate the health
risks engendered by wastewater reuse for irrigation. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2423-3765 2423-4311 |