Dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil via anaerobic composting with pig manure

Modelling peak exposure of pesticides in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems: importance of dissolved organic carbon and vertical particle movement in soil

In the present work, an existing vegetation/air/litter/soil model (SoilPlusVeg) was modified to improve organic chemical fate description in terrestrial/aquatic ecosystems accounting for horizontal and vertical particulate organic carbon (POC) transport in soil. The model was applied to simulate the fate of three pesticides (terbuthylazine, chlorpyrifos and etofenprox), characterized by increasing hydrophobicity (log K_OW from about 3 to 7), in the soil compartment and more specifically, their movement towards surface and groundwater through infiltration and runoff processes. The aim was to evaluate the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and POC in the soil in influencing the peak exposure of pesticides in terrestrial/aquatic ecosystems. Simulation results showed that while terbuthylazine and chlorpyrifos dominated the free water phase (C_W-FREE) of soil, etofenprox was mainly present in soil porewater as POC associated chemical. This resulted in an increase of this highly hydrophobic chemical movement towards groundwater and surface water, up to a factor of 40. The present work highlighted the importance of DOC and POC as an enhancer of mobility in the water of poor or very little mobile chemicals. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the bioavailability change with time and parameterize this process in multimedia fate models.

Application of modified attapulgite in phthalate acid ester-contaminated soil: Effects on phthalate acid ester dissipation and the composition of soil microbial community

The effects of modified attapulgite (MA) on the dissipations of the plasticizers di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in soil, as well as on the composition of soil microbial community, were studied. DBP, DEHP (50 mg kg(-1) in soil, respectively), and MA (1, 5, and 10 % in soil) were mixed thoroughly with soil and incubated for 60 days. DBP- and DEHP-contaminated soils without MA were used as the controls. Both of DBP and DEHP residues in bulk soils and four soil fractions were measured at five incubation times 1, 7, 15, 30, and 60 days, and their dissipation kinetic equations were analyzed. The microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations were also measured at the end of experiment. Our results showed that the effect of modified attapulgite on DBP dissipation was related to its dosage in soil. The DEHP dissipation was both inhibited by MA at the 5 and 10 % rates in soils. The application of MA changed the content percentages but did not change the concentration order of phthalate acid esters (PAEs) in soil particle-size fractions. The total microbial PLFA content was significantly increased by 5 and 10 % MA in the contaminated soils. Meanwhile, the gram-negative (GN)/gram-positive (GP) ratios increased when MA was applied at the dosages of 5 and 10 % in DBP and 10 % in DEHP-contaminated soils. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the change of bacteria PLFA, especially the GN bacterial PLFA, depended on the dosages of MA added into soil. The application of MA into soil has a positive effect on reducing the eco-toxicity of PAEs in soil based on the analysis of the soil microbial PLFA.

Enhanced reductive dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil by in-vessel anaerobic composting with zero-valent iron

Anaerobic dechlorination is an effective degradation pathway for higher chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The enhanced reductive dechlorination of PCB-contaminated soil by anaerobic composting with zero-valent iron (ZVI) was studied, and preliminary reasons for the enhanced reductive dechlorination with ZVI were investigated. The results show that the addition of nanoscale ZVI can enhance dechlorination during in-vessel anaerobic composting. After 140 days, the average number of removed Cl per biphenyl with 10 mg g(-1) of added nanoscale ZVI was 0.63, enhancing the dechlorination by 34 % and improving the initial dechlorination speed. The ZVI enhances dechlorination by providing a suitable acid base environment, reducing volatile fatty acid inhibition and stimulating the microorganisms. The C/N ratios for treatments with the highest rate of ZVI addition were smaller than for the control, indicating that ZVI addition can promote compost maturity.