Organic contaminants in an agricultural soil with a known history of sewage sludge amendments: polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

The PAH content of soils from a long-term agricultural experiment that received 25 separate sewage sludge applications from 1942 to 1961 is presented along with data from an untreated control plot and a plot that received repeated applications of farmyard manure. Archived plough layer (0-23 cm) soil samples were collected, stored, and processed in the same manner between 1942 and 1984 (i.e., before, during, and after sludge amendments) and samples of the applied sludges were available for analysis. Soil concentrations increased between 1942 and 1960 on the sludge-amended plot and subsequently showed a steady decline. By 1984 the sludge-amended plot still contained over 3 times more £PAH than the corresponding control soil. By 1960 ~70% of the £PAH load added in the sludge was unaccounted for; this had increased to nearly 85% by 1984. Some compound-specific trends are apparent in the data; generally, the higher molecular weight PAHs have been more persistent. It is argued that biodegradation and transboundary transfers due to ploughing are the two main loss mechanisms.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surface soils from outskirts of Beijing, China

“…Comparatively stable molecular structure, slow rates of photochemical decomposition and biodegradation contribute to the persistence of PAHs in the environment. Soil system seems to be the important long-term repository for PAHs and is considered to be a steady indicator of the environmental pollution state (Wild et al, 1990;Wild and Jones, 1995). Accumulation of PAHs in soils may lead to further potential contamination of vegetables and food chains (Meharg et al, 1998;Kipopoulou et al, 1999), and then cause direct or indirect exposure to human.…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contamination in subsoil from outskirts of Beijing, People's Republic of China

“…Once deposited, they can reside for longer than 20 years (Wild et al, 1990), and the accumulation may lead to contamination of food chains (Kipopoulou et al, 1999;Samsoe-Petersen et al, 2002). However, PAHs are not static and recalcitrant.…”

Utility of soil linear alkylbenzenes to assess regional anthropogenic influences with special reference to atmospheric transport

“…(Hardoy et al, 2001;Grimm et al, 2008;Marcotullio et al, 2008). Soil, an important compartment of the environment, is regarded as a major reservoir of pollutants (Wild et al, 1990;Wild and Jones, 1995), and thus can be used to reflect anthropogenic footprints. Anthropogenic pollutants generated from diverse sources (Doney, 2010) can be redistributed via a number of routes, such as hydrodynamic and atmospheric transport, and exerted impacts even on areas distant from points of discharge (Heywood et al, 2006;Nam et al, 2009).…”