Co-Authors:
Bernstein, N., Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Volcani Center, POB 6, Bet-Dagan, 50-250, Israel
Abstract:
The use of wastewater for agricultural irrigation is steadily increasing world-wide and, due to shortages of fresh water, is common today in most arid regions of the world. Application of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation may result in soil exposure to pathogens, creating potential public health problems. A variety of human pathogens are present in raw sewage water. Although their concentrations decrease during the wastewater reclamation process, the secondary treated effluents most commonly used for irrigation today still contain bacterial human pathogens. A range of bacterial pathogens, introduced through contaminated irrigation water or manure, are capable of surviving for long periods in soil and water where they have the potential to contaminate crops in the field. Therefore, there is a risk of direct contamination of crops by human pathogens from the treated effluents used for irrigation, as well as a risk of indirect contamination of the crops from contaminated soil at the agricultural site. Contradictory to previous notions, recent studies have demonstrated that human pathogens can enter plants through their roots and translocate and survive in edible, aerial plant tissues. The practical implications of these new findings for food safety are still not clear, but no doubt reflect the pathogenic microorganisms' ability to survive and multiply in the irrigated soil, in the water, and in the harvested edible crop. © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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