Sewage Sludge Linked to Illnesses ATHENS, Georgia, August 2, 2002 (ENS) - A study by researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) links the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer with a host of health problems. Burning eyes, burning lungs, skin rashes and other symptoms of illness were found in the study of residents living near land fertilized with Class B biosolids, a byproduct of the human waste treatment process. Researchers found that affected residents lived within about one kilometer (0.6 miles) of land application sites and complained of irritation after exposure to winds blowing from treated fields. Staphylococcus...