The impact of diet on wastewater treatment works phosphorus loading
Phosphorus (P) is a building block for life in which the human body requires 0.55 g of per day. In some cases, this requirement is exceeded by 2 g per day, with P additives contributing to half of this exceedance. The use of P has become prominent as demand for processed convenience foods has increa...
| Publié dans: | Environmental technology. - 1993. - 44(2023), 15 vom: 02. Juni, Seite 2341-2352 |
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| Format: | Article en ligne |
| Langue: | English |
| Publié: |
2023
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| Accès à la collection: | Environmental technology |
| Sujets: | Journal Article Phosphorus diet source apportionment veganism wastewater |
| Résumé: | Phosphorus (P) is a building block for life in which the human body requires 0.55 g of per day. In some cases, this requirement is exceeded by 2 g per day, with P additives contributing to half of this exceedance. The use of P has become prominent as demand for processed convenience foods has increased. P can cause significant eutrophication once discharged to the environment. As of October 2019, 55% of assessed rivers and 73% of assessed lakes in England failed the current water quality standards. A survey was conducted to calculate the average P consumption of individuals who identify as meat eaters, flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans based on stated eating habits and reported P levels in foods, revealing an estimated P consumption of 1715, 1664, 1244, 1125 mg P/day respectively. It was estimated that current diets contribute 45% of the P load to UK wastewater treatment works (WwTW). If the UK population were to all convert to veganism this would decrease by 54% reducing the load to WwTW by over 15,000 tonnes of P per year, or 9000 tonnes of P per year if there was a move towards a 50% vegetarian or vegan population. Finally, the population needs to be better informed on what is in their food and the associated environmental impacts |
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| Description: | Date Completed 05.06.2023 Date Revised 05.06.2023 published: Print-Electronic UpdateIn: Environ Technol. 2023 Jun;44(15):2353-2355. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2022.2135267. - PMID 36644810 Citation Status MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1479-487X |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09593330.2022.2027029 |