Resumen de Development of environmental tools for the management of sewage sludge on agricultural soils

Ana Carolina Passuello

• The application of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants on agricultural soils has become an increasing practice in recent years, derived from its environmental benefits (recycling of organic matter and nutrients). However, there are a few studies regarding the risks and benefits for both the environment and the human health, probably because of the complexity of the problem and the high stakeholders’ expectations. The objective of this thesis was to develop methodological tools to support the management of sewage sludge on agricultural soils. Fate, human exposure and health risk models were developed, evaluated and integrated. Furthermore, decision models were built up and integrated into Geographic Information System (GIS) so as to indicate the best agricultural areas to amend with sewage sludge. The use of these tools provides more confident decisions regarding this practice.