Plastic peril: Call for action on the microplastic threat lurking in sewage sludge
Wednesday 27th August 2025
Microplastics in the sewage sludge spread on UK agricultural land pose a threat to human health, and the environment.
LONDON – Sewage sludge is widely applied as fertiliser to agricultural land across the UK, yet the microplastics in this sludge pose a threat to human health and the environment, so today environmental consultancy, EcoCognito, called for urgent legislative action to prevent microplastic pollution from sewage sludge.
In 2023, the last year for which we could readily access government data, water companies in England spread around 819,001 tonnes (dry solids) of sewage sludge – 93.8% of which was applied to over 375,000 acres of agricultural land. The spreading of sewage sludge on farmland is also widespread across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Yet current environmental regulations specify this sewage sludge is tested only for potentially harmful heavy metals, with no requirement to routinely test the sludge for microplastics – this legislative gap means avoidable microplastic pollution takes place when sewage sludge is applied to UK agricultural land.
“Today we are calling for the urgent tightening of regulations relating to microplastics in the sewage sludge spread on agricultural land, to protect our environment and human health from this harmful and avoidable pollution. There is extensive research that points to the problem, yet our politicians are failing to step up and take action to rectify the situation”, said a spokesperson from EcoCognito.
“Human health is harmed by microplastic pollution, through the ingestion and inhalation of microplastic particles, and via contaminated water; as well as being directly harmful, microplastics can potentially absorb, carry, and amplify other harmful substances such as pesticide residues, heavy metals and pathogens”.
“Research also reveals that microplastics damage and disrupt ecosystems, damage soils and aquatic environments, and harm wildlife and other biota, so urgent action is needed to stop microplastics entering our environment in sewage sludge”.
This call to action follows a recent evaluation of the European Sewage Sludge Directive by the European Commission, which recommends a review to consider the regulation of new categories of pollutant in sewage sludge such as microplastics, organic compounds, pathogens and pharmaceuticals.
For additional background information, and relevant research, visit EcoCognito’s online resources.
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CONTACT: Luke Rowlands, Director, EcoCognito
Phone: +44 (0)7966 729775
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Website: https://www.ecocognito.com/
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Relevant research:
Accumulation of microplastics in soil after long-term application of biosolids and atmospheric deposition:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723075125
Effects of microplastics on the terrestrial environment: A critical review:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935122000615
Evidence of microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils from sewage sludge disposal:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30933797/
Microplastics: a real global threat for environment and food safety: a state of the art review:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9920460/
Microplastics in sewage sludge: a review:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37079238/
Municipal sewage sludge as a source of microplastics in the environment:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468584419300832
Potential health impact of microplastics: a review of environmental distribution, human exposure, and toxic effects:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/envhealth.3c00052
Prediction of future microplastic accumulation in agricultural soils:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124013010
Additional details:
Microplastics Everywhere – The tiny particles are even in our bodies. What might this mean for our health?:
https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/microplastics-everywhere
Plastic planet: How tiny plastic particles are polluting our soil:
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/plastic-planet-how-tiny-plastic-particles-are-polluting-our-soil
‘For 2023 the 9 water companies dispatched 819,001 tonnes (dry solids) of sewage sludge – 93.8% of this was used in agriculture (across 151,921 hectares of land)’
Regulatory control information:
The application of sewage sludge to agricultural land is currently controlled by the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989; these regulations require that the sludge producer routinely tests both the sludge to be applied and the soil receiving the sludge to ensure that the regulatory limits of specified heavy metals are not exceeded – but does not cover other key categories of pollutant found in sewage sludge.
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