title: Dynamics of PCB removal and detoxification in historically contaminated soils amended with activated carbon.
abstract: Activated carbon (AC) can help overcome toxicity of pollutants to microbes and facilitate soil bioremediation. We used this approach to treat a Histosol and an Alluvial soil historically contaminated with PCB (4190 and 1585 mg kg(-1), respectively; primarily tri-, tetra- and pentachlorinated congeners). Results confirmed PCB persistence; reductions in PCB extractable from control and AC-amended soils were mostly due to a decrease in tri- and to some extent tetrachlorinated congeners as well as formation of a bound fraction. Mechanisms of PCB binding by soil and AC were different. In addition to microbial degradation of less chlorinated congeners, we postulate AC catalyzed dechlorination of higher chlorinated congeners. A large decrease in bioavailable PCB in AC-amended soils was demonstrated by greater clover germination and biomass. Phytotoxicity was low in treated soils but remained high in untreated soils for the duration of a 39-month experiment. These observations indicate the utility of AC for remediation of soils historically contaminated with PCB.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Russia. gkvasilyeva@issp.psn.ru
authors.forename: Galina K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Vasilyeva
authors.forename: Elena R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Strijakova
authors.forename: Svetlana N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Nikolaeva
authors.forename: Albert T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Lebedev
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Shea
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002606:Charcoal; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls