health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture: report of a who...

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169 meets the significance criterion, that subject is not mentioned or is referred to only in passing. This results in gaps in coverage. For example, the chapter on institutional arrangements includes a section on fisheries management, but there is no mention of fisheries in the chapter on resource appraisal or that on resource allocation. Similarly, "waste" and "waste disposal" are each cited to four pages in the index, every instance merely being a reference in passing. This would seem to slight the huge dimension of this problem in the United States, as well as in other countries. Another shortcoming of the author's technique flows from the fact that the investigations described and summarized tend to be in one degree or another localized-on a single community, river basin, etc., or at most on national pol- icy with respect to such issues as land use and wilderness management. Yet the chapter on hazards and risk assessment opens with reference to one au- thor's view of geography as "the science of human ecology" (that "identity" preoccupation again! ). If this view has any validity, the book can be faulted for failing to mention, in the chapter on carrying capacity, the problem of human population growth and its effects on the planet as a whole. Such criticisms notwithstanding, the book is well crafted for its intended purpose: the teaching of new researchers in geography. Bruce C. Netschert Special Consultant National Economic Research Associates, Inc. Washington, DC, USA Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture. Re- port of a WHO Scientific Group, Technical Report Series No. 778,.World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989. Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aqua- culture. Duncan Mara and Sandy Cairncross, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989. The use of water for agriculture is an issue of major importance to less de- veloped countries. Wastewater is commonly used for irrigation, particularly in arid regions. In recent years the practice has increased as a means of water conservation and increasing crop production. However, the advantages of wastewater utilization need to be balanced against the hazards of infectious disease. Guidelines are required to provide public health safeguards to mini- mize health risks, when water contaminated with human wastes is applied to crops. Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is the report of a World Health Organization scientific group which concen-

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Page 1: Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture: Report of a WHO Scientific Group, Technical Report Series No. 778, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989

169

meets the significance criterion, that subject is not ment ioned or is referred to only in passing. This results in gaps in coverage. For example, the chapter on institutional arrangements includes a section on fisheries management, but there is no ment ion of fisheries in the chapter on resource appraisal or that on resource allocation. Similarly, "waste" and "waste disposal" are each cited to four pages in the index, every instance merely being a reference in passing. This would seem to slight the huge dimension of this problem in the United States, as well as in other countries.

Another shortcoming of the author's technique flows from the fact that the investigations described and summarized tend to be in one degree or another localized-on a single community , river basin, etc., or at most on national pol- icy with respect to such issues as land use and wilderness management. Yet the chapter on hazards and risk assessment opens with reference to one au- thor's view of geography as "the science of human ecology" (that "identi ty" preoccupation again! ). If this view has any validity, the book can be faulted for failing to mention, in the chapter on carrying capacity, the problem of human population growth and its effects on the planet as a whole.

Such criticisms notwithstanding, the book is well crafted for its intended purpose: the teaching of new researchers in geography.

Bruce C. Netschert Special Consultant

National Economic Research Associates, Inc.

Washington, DC, USA

Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture. Re- port of a WHO Scientific Group, Technical Report Series No. 778,.World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989.

Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aqua- culture. Duncan Mara and Sandy Cairncross, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1989.

The use of water for agriculture is an issue of major importance to less de- veloped countries. Wastewater is commonly used for irrigation, particularly in arid regions. In recent years the practice has increased as a means of water conservation and increasing crop production. However, the advantages of wastewater utilization need to be balanced against the hazards of infectious disease. Guidelines are required to provide public health safeguards to mini- mize health risks, when water contaminated with human wastes is applied to crops.

Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is the report of a World Health Organization scientific group which concen-