a b s t r a c tThe concentrations of six priority phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in intensively managed suburban vegetable soils in Nanjing, east China, were analyzed using gas chromatographyemass spectrometry (GCeMS). The total PAE concentrations in the soils ranged widely from 0.15 to 9.68 mg kg À1 with a median value of 1.70 mg kg À1 , and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), bis-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) were the most abundant phthalate esters. Soil PAE concentrations depended on the mode of use of plastic film in which PAEs were incorporated as plasticizing agents and both the plastic film and poultry manure appeared to be important sources of soil PAEs. Vegetables in rotation with flooded rice led to lower concentrations of PAEs in soil. The results indicate that agricultural plastic film can be an important source of soil PAE contamination and further research is required to fully elucidate the mechanisms of PAE contamination of intensive agricultural soils with different use modes of use of plastic film.Crown

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In situ bioremediation of oily sludge-contaminated soil by biostimulation of indigenous microbes through adding manure was conducted at the Shengli oilfield in northern China. After bioremediation for 360 days, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content was reduced by 58.2% in the treated plots compared with only 15.6% in the control plot. Moreover, bioremediation significantly improved the physicochemical properties of the soil in the treated plot. Soil microbial counts and community-level physiological profiling were also examined. Manure addition increased TPH degraders and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degraders in the contaminated soil by one to two orders of magnitude. The activity and biodiversity of soil microbial communities also increased markedly in the treated plot compared with that of the control. Finally, biotoxicity was used to evaluate the soils and a sharp increase in the EC50 of the soil after bioremediation was observed, indicating that bioremediation had reduced the toxicity of the soil.