Treated municipal sewage sludge—the solids from sewage treatment—may be causing illness in people up to a mile from where it is spread on land, according to findings from researchers at the Department of Epidemiology at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. The study involved residents from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina who live near fields where sludge is applied as a soil amendment. More than half of the people interviewed reported acute symptoms such as burning eyes, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea after sludge had been sprayed or spread. Read more »
