Managing the treatment and disposal of domestic sludge is an important

activity and one that is highly regulated in many countries. After treatment,

the effluent may be discharged leaving a mixture of water, organic solids

and chemicals, nutrients, heavy metals, and inorganic ions. This sludge can

be further treated and the resulting biosolids can then be applied to the

land as a fertilizer, sent to

landfill or incinerated. It is vital that the sludge

or biosolids are tested and conform to regulatory levels in order to protect

public health and the environment.

The United States federal biosolids rule is contained in 40 CFR Part 503. The

European

Union Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC is expected to be revised as

several Member States have enacted and implemented stricter limit values

for heavy metals and set requirements for other contaminants.

In this work, an Agilent 4200 MP

-

AES was used to deter

mine major and

minor elements in domestic sludge, following microwave digestion.