Estimation of PCB content in agricultural soils associated with long-term fertilization with organic waste

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) pollution related to the use of organic waste as fertilizers in agricultural soils is a cause of major concern. In the study presented herein, PCB concentration was studied through a field trial conducted in two agricultural soils in the province of Palencia (Spain) over a 4-year period, assessing the impact of irrigation and of different types of organic waste materials. The amounts of organic waste added to the soil were calculated according to the nitrogen needs of the crop, and the concentration of PCBs was determined before and after the application of the organic waste. The resulting persistence of the total PCB content in the agricultural soils, compared with the PCB concentration in the original soils, ranged from 27% to 90%, with the lowest value corresponding to irrigated soils treated with municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) and the highest value to non-irrigated soils treated with composted sewage sludge (CSS). An estimate of the PCB content in agricultural soils after the application of organic waste materials until year 2050 was obtained, resulting in a value below 5 ng·g(-1), considered a background value for soils in sites far away from potential pollution sources.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) in Soil in Ondo State, Nigeria

“…The TOC values ranged between 1.30 and 1.64. Igodan recorded the highest mean for both pH and EC, whereas OAUSTECH had the lowest mean for both [28,29]. found similar results to those of this study…”

Metabolic adaptation of fungal strains in response to contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls

“…Although their manufacture and marketing have been banned, PCBs remain persistent in the environment because of their high stability (Passatore et al 2014). It is estimated that about 1 million tons have been produced worldwide and that about 30% of all manufactured PCBs have been released into the environment leading to soil and sediment contamination (UNEP 2011;Antolin-Rodriguez et al 2016). PCBs represent a threat to ecosystem health due to their low degradability and high rate of toxicity, cause a wide range of toxic effects on animals and humans and are also considered as potentially carcinogenic (Brouwer et al 1999;Pointing 2001;Dercova et al 2009).…”

Quantitative determination of biphenyls and their metabolites in cell cultures of Comamonas thiooxydans N1 using high-performance liquid chromatography

“…These deleterious effects on humans have motivated the search for methods to remove these organic pollutants from contaminated soil. For instance, PCBs are a common contaminant of agricultural crop soil fertilised over a long term with organic waste (Antolín-Rodríguez et al, 2016). Further, four strains of biphenyl-degrading bacteria were isolated from sewage and identified to belong to genera Rhodococcus and Aquamicrobium (Chang et al, 2013).…”