US EPA

659794 

Journal Article 

The form and bioavailability of non-ionic organic chemicals in sewage sludge-amended agricultural soils 

Beck, AJ; Johnson, DL; Jones, KC 

1996 

1 

Science of the Total Environment
ISSN: 0048-9697
EISSN: 1879-1026 

185 

1-3 

125-149 

English 

8643957 

10.1016/0048-9697(96)05047-4 

WOS:A1996UN49800010 

The application of sewage sludges to agricultural land may increase the concentrations of many toxic organic chemicals in soils which could have adverse effects on wildlife and human health if these compounds enter foodchains. Chlorobenzenes (CBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDDs) are amongst those compounds currently receiving most attention. The 'form' in which these, and other organic chemicals, are present in soils and their potential to be lost by various processes including leaching, volatilisation and (bio)degradation is shown to be dependent on the physicochemical characteristics of the soil and sewage sludge, environmental conditions and the properties of the chemicals themselves. The distinction is made between those compounds that are labile, reversibly sorbed and irreversibly sorbed by sewage sludge-amended soils. 

Ecology; Plants; Animals; Fresh water; Biochemistry; Environmental pollutants poisoning; Occupational diseases; Bacteria physiology; Bacteria metabolism; Sanitation; Sewage; Plants growth & development; Soil; Environmental pollution; Plant diseases; Weather; Bacteria; Fungi